Ways of getting pregnant
It’s possible to get pregnant through sex, through home insemination or by using the services of a fertility clinic. You can get pregnant with sperm from a romantic partner or someone else who you plan to raise the child with (a parenting partner). You can also get pregnant with sperm from someone who will not be raising the child with you (a sperm donor).
Getting pregnant through sex
Effective HIV treatment means that for people living with HIV who want to get pregnant through sex, having a baby can be very simple. If you are maintaining an undetectable viral load, you can be confident that you will not pass HIV to your sex partner or to your baby. To start trying to have a baby, you can start having sex without using condoms or any other kind of birth control.
Getting pregnant using home insemination
Home insemination is another option for getting pregnant. This involves placing sperm into your vagina. The sperm can come from a partner or from a donor. You can get sperm from someone you know or buy it from a sperm bank if the clinic has a home insemination program. Talk to your HIV doctor, or another healthcare provider if you are thinking about home insemination. They can explain how and when to do home insemination for the best chance of getting pregnant. If you choose to buy sperm, your doctor can refer you to a fertility clinic where you can access sperm banks.
Improving your chance of getting pregnant
To increase your chance of getting pregnant, you can keep track of the days when you are most likely to get pregnant. This time is called ovulation and it is when your eggs are released from your ovaries. You can talk to your doctor about ways to figure out when you are ovulating. They might suggest using a calendar or phone app, or buying ovulation predictor sticks from a drug store.
If you are trying to get pregnant through sex, you can plan to have sex around the time when you will be ovulating for the best chance of pregnancy. However, some couples prefer not to track ovulation, and many people get pregnant simply by having sex regularly throughout the month, especially around the middle of their cycle.
If you are trying to get pregnant through home insemination, you will need to track your ovulation in order to know when you are most fertile.
Some people are able to get pregnant soon after they start trying, and for others it takes longer. It often takes between six months and one year to get pregnant. Talk to a healthcare provider if you’re concerned that it is taking too long. Your healthcare provider might refer you to a fertility clinic.
Getting pregnant using a fertility clinic
You might use a fertility clinic if you are having trouble getting pregnant through sex or home insemination or if you want to get pregnant using donor sperm.
If you want to use a fertility clinic, ask your doctor for a referral. Access to services at fertility clinics for people living with HIV varies across Canada. When you meet with someone at a fertility clinic, ask about the clinic’s policies related to HIV. For example, you should find out if you need to have a certain viral load to use their services, and if they are able to handle biological samples from people living with HIV.
There are costs for some of the services at fertility clinics. Private or public health insurance might be able to help cover the costs.