“I thought I could never be happy again,” said Mei Zi, who is living with HIV and a mother of a lively young boy. She calls her son “calm angel”, as he doesn’t talk much. Mei Zi says that “calm angel” as a gift from God.

Mei Zi met her husband two years after she discovered that she was living with HIV. After their wedding, she went to live with her husband in Beijing, China, where he worked. She remembers receiving a red down jacket as a present from her husband when she got off the train in Beijing. The excitement is still fresh, even though it was a long time ago. 

Soon after her marriage, Mei Zi became pregnant. Although her doctor advised her that she could take medicine to ensure that her baby was born free from HIV, she made the painful decision to terminate the pregnancy. She and her husband were both living with HIV and, in addition, she was living with hepatitis C.

Mei Zi put having children out of her mind, but five years later a test showed that she was pregnant.

Mei Zi was treated just like any other expectant mother at the hospital. She decided to take treatment to stop her baby becoming infected with HIV and to treat her hepatitis after the baby’s arrival.

Because of the hepatitis, Mei Zi had a cesarean section in the 34th week of her pregnancy. She was afraid of the surgery, but eager to see her baby.

“As the door of the operating room was pushed open, I started crying,” said Mei Zi. “I felt the door was just like between life and death.” When the doctor presented her with the new arrival, she could not believe it was true―a healthy baby boy, free from HIV.

The Women’s Network against AIDS in China (WNAC) is striving to ensure that more women living with HIV and hepatitis C are aware that they can have healthy children and receive the support to do so.

WNAC was established in 2009 with assistance from UNAIDS and consists of 27 women’s community organizations across 12 provinces in China. It is a platform that brings together and advocates for women living with HIV and ensures that women living with HIV get the help and support they need to access appropriate health care and give birth to babies free from the virus.

Mei Zi achieved her dream of having a healthy baby, but it was not by chance. The support she received from her health-care provider, WNAC, organizations in the network and many other community groups made it possible.

“Calm angel” is now four and a half years old and energetic and curious about the world.