Personal story: Claire

"Hi, I’m Claire. I’m 15 years old and I was born with HIV. I found out I was positive when I was about 7. I always had to take meds, but I never knew what for. My mom always told me not to let anyone touch my blood and stuff, but I had no idea what she was talking about.

But now I am fully aware of my status, and it honestly doesn’t bother me too much. I still have sleep overs and do things any other teen girl would do. I HAVE NO LIMITATIONS :D

Well, when I had sex for the first time, I didn’t tell my boyfriend about my HIV until days after. I was sooo scared to tell him – afraid that he would freak out. When I told him, he freaked out and did break up with me = (But after a while, he said he didn’t care and then wanted me back. But hey! Karmas a b***h, so I didn’t go back. I did find another love who does know about my status and said to me many times he didn’t care at all, obviously this made me so happy.

I am still very quiet about my status to my friends. No one at my school knows because there’s too much of a risk of someone telling. But otherwise, I don’t let my HIV affect me in any way. I live the life of a normal teen, I have many friends, and have all the fun in the world. HIV doesn’t have to limit your life. I surely don’t let it! :D"

What we say

Growing up HIV-positive and managing new relationships when you are living with HIV can be tricky. Like Claire, you may find that people react differently than you expect after you tell them. For more information, see our pages on being young and positive and sharing your HIV status.

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These personal stories have been submitted to us anonymously by individuals who use our site. Some of the stories have been edited for clarity purposes and names have been changed to protect identities.

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