USAID Reunites HIV+ Mother with Child
Lena, 31, lived in a small village of Blizhnee near Simferopol with her husband, 12-year-old daughter Katyusha and 10-year-old son Ihor. Life was not easy; her husband was an alcoholic who had turned to injecting drugs as well. He persuaded Lena to begin using drugs and she soon became addicted.
In 2003, Lena became pregnant with their third child. Soon after, her husband was imprisoned, and she was left to care for their children alone. While registering for prenatal care, Lena was diagnosed with HIV. Devastated and filled with fear, Lena signed papers to abdicate parental rights upon delivery of her baby girl, Nastya, despite the efforts of her mother and sister to convince Lena to bring her new daughter home.
With a relatively brief time, Lena began to come to term with her fears. A year later after giving birth to Nastya, she had accepted her HIV diagnosis and had fallen in love with a man who was HIV-negative. Once more, Lena became pregnant. The prospect of this new baby, however, stirred memories of her abandoned daughter, plaguing Lena with confusion and guilt. Fortunately, Lena was able to reach out to the staff of USAID-supported Prevention of Abandonment of Children Born to HIV-positive Mothers (MAMA+) Project staff at the maternity hospital while she was preparing to undergo a cesarean section to deliver her son, Timur.
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On her second birthday, Nastya, with her grandmother, prepares to go
home for the first time
Photo Credit: Vadym Nesterov |
The MAMA+ Project was launched in summer 2005 to create systems, capacity and commitment in Ukraine to keep children born to HIV-positive mothers within their biological families. It provides comprehensive psychological, social, medical and legal support for HIV-positive mothers and their families in Donetsk, Kyiv and the Crimea. MAMA+ is implemented by the Doctors of the World-USA in close partnership with the All-Ukrainian Network of PLWHA, and relies heavily on the referral network of its local partners, including city maternity hospitals, regional prenatal and AIDS centers, and babies’ homes.
During her MAMA+ screening session, Lena revealed that she felt ashamed and afraid to admit that she had abandoned her daughter and wanted to be reunited with her young child. Yet, Lena still worried about the challenges a reunion would pose to her youngest daughter and to the rest of her family. She feared that her boyfriend and children might not forgive her for abandoning a child and that she would lose their love and trust. The MAMA+ staff organized meetings with family members, and after a few tears and many talks, all of Lena’s family members expressed support for her decision to regain custody of Nastya. Her mother and sister ensured Lena that they would support her while she worked on their farm.
The MAMA+ team worked with Lena and her relatives to initiate the adoption process. Little Nastya didn’t recognize Lena when she saw her mother for the first time, but by accompanying Lena on regular visits to see Nastya, MAMA+ staff helped them to forge the beginnings of a healthy mother-daughter relationship.
On August 16, 2006, Nastya celebrated her second birthday by returning home. Today, her official guardian is her grandmother—a decision reached after much consideration by the MAMA+ team and Nastya’s family. The MAMA+ team continues to support and stabilize the family, providing psychological counseling, observing Nastya and helping her to adapt, while also working to help Lena find a job, apply for benefits and, eventually regain full parental rights.
In the course of 15 months, the MAMA+ Project has helped 118 children born to HIV-positive mothers stay with their families and receive needed support. To date, three children born to and initially abandoned by HIV-positive mothers have been successfully reunited with their biological families.
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