Miracle Moms

Women with HIV can now give birth safely

In 1994, Kelli Lawless, 24, of O'Fallon, Mo., waited for test results she hoped would solve the mystery of her failing health. For years, she had been plagued by a string of illnesses including sinus infections, pneumonia and two bouts of shingles, but her doctor had never performed a test that would have been routine for someone else with those symptoms. "He said that people like me--a white, middle-class, non-drug-using, college-educated woman in Iowa-- didn't get HIV/AIDS." Alas, in Lawless's case, he was mistaken. Testing showed that she was positive for HIV. "I know this sounds strange, but I was relieved to know...

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