AIDS vs. Pregnancy

May 2007

Question:

If a person chooses to have sex with an HIV+ partner, which is easier, getting HIV or getting pregnant, assuming no condom?

Answer:

If contemplating having sex with someone who is HIV (+), well that is definitely a personal choice, but a condom with spermicide (which offers some additional protection as well) should definitely be used. It would be a pretty bad idea not to.
Well, this is just an educated guess, but I would have to say that transmitting the AIDS virus would probably be easier than conceiving.
A woman actually has a pretty narrow window for conception, which is only hours during ovulation. The egg only survives about 12-24 hours after ovulation and then can only be fertilized when in a specific area of the fallopian tube. Because sperm can live for some days inside of the vagina, It’s possible to become pregnant even if you don’t have sex during ovulation. But conception still only happens during actual ovulation. Sperm has the ability to live for 2-7 days inside the vagina, so they can simply wait patiently for the egg to be ready for fertilization.
But the AIDS virus, on the other hand, can be transmitted at any time of the month. All you need is blood to blood contact (or blood to semen/vaginal fluid contact), which is very likely to happen through sex because of microscopic tears and abrasions to the vagina or the penis during the actual act. And even more so if you choose to have sex while the HIV-positive woman is menstruating, or if you’re having anal sex. Anal sex causes more trauma, tears, abrasions.
So that’s my answer, but I’ve never actually done any research on this specific topic. This is purely my opinion.