Getting pregnant the usual way requires barrier-free sex. If you’re reading this blog, you probably already knew that. Unfortunately, unprotected sex is one of the most common ways that HIV spreads. For HIV-negative women who want to get pregnant and have a partner living with HIV, PrEP is an option.

What is PrEP?

PrEP is short for Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis. That’s a highly technical way of describing a pretty simple thing. We can break it down into two parts. First, it’s pre-exposure because you take it before you’re potentially exposed to HIV. Second, it’s prophylaxis because it helps to prevent you from contracting it.

Get pregnant — not positive

Here are the options:

1)  Take PrEP before you try getting pregnant

PrEP is 99% effective when taken as prescribed  That means that there is a tiny chance that you could still catch HIV.  As an HIV-negative woman, it is safe to get pregnant from an HIV-positive partner. If you do it smartly, the risk is low. PrEP helps make that risk even lower Women should consistently take PrEP for 20 days for it to be effective (Link to What is PrEP?).

Research shows that PrEP doesn’t pose any risks to women who are pregnant or to their babies. But that research is pretty limited. Experts tell us that we have a lot more to learn about PrEP and pregnancy.

2) U=U (Undetectable = Untransmittable)

Your partner who is living with HIV should be on HIV meds and undetectable.

Research shows us that the most effective way to prevent HIV transmission is to take medicine every day so that the amount of the HIV virus in the blood is undetectable. This means that your  partner who has HIV needs to be on anti-retroviral meds and stay on them. Once your partner has an undetectable viral load, it’s safe to try getting pregnant. When an HIV-positive person is  undetectable, they can’t transmit the virus.

3) If PrEP or U=U isn’t going to work for you, then be smart about when you do it

Pregnancy is most likely while a woman is ovulating. Doctors recommend that pregnancy-seeking couples with mixed HIV status where it is unclear if the person living with HIV is undetectable or not only have condom-less sex while the woman is ovulating.

Questions to think about

Getting pregnant while staying negative means thinking about your risk. These two questions are crucial to think about before trying:

• Can you be sure that your male partner will stay on his HIV treatment and keep his viral load undetectable?
• Are you comfortable taking powerful anti-viral meds even if they aren’t completely necessary?
• You need to think about these questions and talk with your partner and healthcare provider about them.

Ready for PrEP?

That’s great! It starts by talking with your Primary Care Provider (PCP). If you need help with that conversation, we’ve got a great article on it over here.