How to tell your child if you are HIV positive
When you are diagnosed with HIV, you can feel stressed and have difficulty
telling others about your illness, especially in the children you care
about most and don't want you to hurt. If you have difficulty informing your child, the following ways of communication can help.
prepare yourself
It is important to make sure you can control your feelings before telling your child. Then, you need to look for some sites or hotlines for children to learn so that they can support you and protect themselves. However, when you talk to your child, prepare yourself for unimaginable situations that might occur to you. Your child may be surprised or afraid of contracting HIV from you. In these situations, you must remain calm and understand that your child is afraid of losing you. They need time to accept reality.
Get to know your child
You need to consider the right time to tell the child about your illness. Make sure they are old enough to understand this condition. The age of the child has an impact on what they know and what can be understood. You must evaluate what your child knows about the disease before choosing the information you will tell.
Plan when and how to tell
Consider when and what to say to your child. You can't talk about illness to your child just because you feel you are brave enough. This can cause things to become messy and out of your control. This is why plans to tell are needed. To avoid confusion, you need to set the words that you will convey. You can also record it to make it easier. Choose a time and place that is appropriate and comfortable for both of you.
Help them understand about HIV
Although most children have heard about HIV, up to grade 3 around 93% of children have unclear knowledge about HIV and other sexual diseases. Therefore, when you decide to tell your child about HIV, this is the right opportunity to discuss HIV. You can teach them how to avoid sexual invitations and drugs that are at risk to protect them in the future.
It's not a good idea to give too much information about HIV. Getting too much information can make a child confused and worried. You also need to tell the child that they will not get HIV when they hug kiss, or are near you.
Don't ask the child to keep it a secret
Children are very good at keeping secrets. Once you decide to tell your child about your HIV status, you should not ask them to keep this as a secret because it will stress your child and lead to certain serious behavioral disorders.
Facts about your illness can cause various feelings for your child. However, the way you tell them is important to make them understand and accept the reality of your HIV condition. If you are very worried about the consequences, ask your doctor to give you advice.
prepare yourself
It is important to make sure you can control your feelings before telling your child. Then, you need to look for some sites or hotlines for children to learn so that they can support you and protect themselves. However, when you talk to your child, prepare yourself for unimaginable situations that might occur to you. Your child may be surprised or afraid of contracting HIV from you. In these situations, you must remain calm and understand that your child is afraid of losing you. They need time to accept reality.
Get to know your child
You need to consider the right time to tell the child about your illness. Make sure they are old enough to understand this condition. The age of the child has an impact on what they know and what can be understood. You must evaluate what your child knows about the disease before choosing the information you will tell.
Plan when and how to tell
Consider when and what to say to your child. You can't talk about illness to your child just because you feel you are brave enough. This can cause things to become messy and out of your control. This is why plans to tell are needed. To avoid confusion, you need to set the words that you will convey. You can also record it to make it easier. Choose a time and place that is appropriate and comfortable for both of you.
Help them understand about HIV
Although most children have heard about HIV, up to grade 3 around 93% of children have unclear knowledge about HIV and other sexual diseases. Therefore, when you decide to tell your child about HIV, this is the right opportunity to discuss HIV. You can teach them how to avoid sexual invitations and drugs that are at risk to protect them in the future.
It's not a good idea to give too much information about HIV. Getting too much information can make a child confused and worried. You also need to tell the child that they will not get HIV when they hug kiss, or are near you.
Don't ask the child to keep it a secret
Children are very good at keeping secrets. Once you decide to tell your child about your HIV status, you should not ask them to keep this as a secret because it will stress your child and lead to certain serious behavioral disorders.
Facts about your illness can cause various feelings for your child. However, the way you tell them is important to make them understand and accept the reality of your HIV condition. If you are very worried about the consequences, ask your doctor to give you advice.
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