Serodiscordant
Encyclopedia
Serodiscordant is a term used to describe a couple in which one partner is HIV
positive and the other is HIV
negative. Serodiscordant relationships are also referred to as "magnetic". The term seroconcordant is its antonym, used to describe a couple in which both partners are of the same HIV
status (i.e. both are HIV positive or both are HIV negative).
Serodiscordant couples face numerous issues not faced by seroconcordant couples, including facing a decision as to what level of sexual activity is comfortable for them, knowing that practicing safer sex reduces but does not eliminate the risk of transmission to the HIV negative partner. There are also potential psychological issues arising out of taking care of a sick partner, and survivor guilt
. Financial strains may also be more accentuated as one partner becomes ill and potentially less able or unable to work.
Research involving serodiscordant couples has offered insights into how the virus is passed and how individuals who are HIV positive may be able to reduce the risk of passing the virus to their partner.
Experts have no way to count how many American couples with HIV want to conceive children - but they guess the number is in the thousands. And researchers report a growing stream of calls from these couples wanting reproductive help. The Special Program of Assisted Reproduction
was developed in 1996 to help serodiscordant couples conceive safely. However, the program is only designed to help couples where the male partner is infected, not the female partner.
HIV
Human immunodeficiency virus is a lentivirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome , a condition in humans in which progressive failure of the immune system allows life-threatening opportunistic infections and cancers to thrive...
positive and the other is HIV
HIV
Human immunodeficiency virus is a lentivirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome , a condition in humans in which progressive failure of the immune system allows life-threatening opportunistic infections and cancers to thrive...
negative. Serodiscordant relationships are also referred to as "magnetic". The term seroconcordant is its antonym, used to describe a couple in which both partners are of the same HIV
HIV
Human immunodeficiency virus is a lentivirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome , a condition in humans in which progressive failure of the immune system allows life-threatening opportunistic infections and cancers to thrive...
status (i.e. both are HIV positive or both are HIV negative).
Serodiscordant couples face numerous issues not faced by seroconcordant couples, including facing a decision as to what level of sexual activity is comfortable for them, knowing that practicing safer sex reduces but does not eliminate the risk of transmission to the HIV negative partner. There are also potential psychological issues arising out of taking care of a sick partner, and survivor guilt
Survivor guilt
Survivor, survivor's, or survivors guilt or syndrome is a mental condition that occurs when a person perceives themselves to have done wrong by surviving a traumatic event when others did not...
. Financial strains may also be more accentuated as one partner becomes ill and potentially less able or unable to work.
Research involving serodiscordant couples has offered insights into how the virus is passed and how individuals who are HIV positive may be able to reduce the risk of passing the virus to their partner.
Experts have no way to count how many American couples with HIV want to conceive children - but they guess the number is in the thousands. And researchers report a growing stream of calls from these couples wanting reproductive help. The Special Program of Assisted Reproduction
Special Program of Assisted Reproduction
The Special Program of Assisted Reproduction is a program offered to HIV discordant couples at the Bedford Research Foundation’s clinical laboratory...
was developed in 1996 to help serodiscordant couples conceive safely. However, the program is only designed to help couples where the male partner is infected, not the female partner.
See also
- SerologySerologySerology is the scientific study of blood serum and other bodily fluids. In practice, the term usually refers to the diagnostic identification of antibodies in the serum...
- SerostatusSerostatusSerostatus is a term used to refer to the presence or absence of specific substances in the blood serum. Most commonly, this medical test is looking for specific antibodies in an effort to diagnose a particular disease....
- SerosortingSerosortingSerosorting is the practice of using HIV status as a decision-making point in choosing sexual behavior. Frequently the term is used to describe the behavior of a person who chooses a sexual partner assumed to be of the same HIV serostatus for the purpose of engaging in unprotected sex with the...
- Sperm washingSperm washingSperm washing is a term used to describe the process in which individual sperms are separated from the seminal fluid. The sperms are then used in intrauterine insemination or in vitro fertilization ....
- HIV testing
- Safe SexSafe sexSafe sex is sexual activity engaged in by people who have taken precautions to protect themselves against sexually transmitted diseases such as AIDS. It is also referred to as safer sex or protected sex, while unsafe or unprotected sex is sexual activity engaged in without precautions...