Woman who knew she was HIV positive Breast fed her daughter

[ChibiHorsewoman]

[color=darkviolet]Well, I haven't been on all that much and I haven't begun a thread in a while either, so here's one just for you guys and ladies who miss me so much

[b]Dec. 8, 2005 ? From the moment Eliza Jane Scovill came into the world on Dec. 3, 2001, she was strong and feisty ? much like her mom, Christine Maggiore.

Maggiore describes Eliza Jane as "fierce, sweet, intelligent? wildly creative, imaginative."

She loved music, singing, dancing. She loved her older brother, Charlie," Maggiore said. "I just wanted to live as long as I could to know her, to ? listen to her speak, to bask in her beauty."

In 1992, Maggiore tested positive for HIV. While researching her diagnosis, she became a member of a small, but radical movement proclaiming that everything we thought we knew about AIDS was wrong ? even the most basic premise, that HIV causes AIDS.

She addressed huge crowds at rock concerts, and sparked protests in Africa. Mainstream scientists dismissed her message as dangerous. But a defiant Maggiore was intent on practicing what she preached, refusing to take anti-viral medication like AZT when pregnant.

She and her husband, filmmaker Robin Scovill, had a son, Charlie, in 1998. When she began breastfeeding her son in public, there was outrage that an HIV-positive mother might be literally feeding her child a deadly virus. Evidence shows that breastfeeding increases the risk of transmitting the virus to children by up to 15 percent.

Authorities investigated, but in the end, determined that her son was well cared for and healthy.

When Eliza Jane was born in 2001, Maggiore ? still healthy without anti-AIDS drugs ? again refused anti-viral treatment when pregnant and later insisted on breastfeeding.

"Breastfeeding provides important antibody immunity," Maggiores said. "I wanted to give my children every advantage, and by doing so with Charlie, I raised a beautiful, healthy son. By breast feeding Eliza Jane, I had a beautiful, healthy daughter."


Refusal to Test Her Kids

Maggiore also refused to test her children to see if they were infected with the virus.

"Why would I risk the stigma, the medical label, the toxic drugs? It didn't make any sense to me at all to subject her to that. It's my job as a parent to protect my children, and do everything I can to ensure they lead a long, healthy, happy, productive life," Maggiore said.

But when Eliza Jane was 3 years old, she suddenly became ill. "In late April, she suddenly developed sniffles and a cough," Maggiore said. "I took her to the pediatrician after a few days, because I wanted to make sure she was OK." [/b]

[URL=http://]http://abcnews.go.com/Primetime/Health/story?id=1386737&page=2[/URL] You can read the rest of the story by clicking on that link. The whole thing is four pages long but basically it says that a woman who is HIV positive and knew she was HIV positve breastfed her daughter. And her daughter died.

I'm just wonderiung what are people's thoughts on this subject. I know we have some people who work in the medical profession and some other who just like to rerad and give commentary on subjects that they may want to learn more about.

So I invite everyone to tell me what you think[/color]

[Corey]

[size=1]The first thought that comes to mind is "Idiot."
The second, "reckless."
The third? Pure puzzlement. I'm confused why anyone would want to do this to their child, even if their political beliefs completely oppose it.
It's a risk, plain and simple. And now a child died.
I believe my first thought is most acurate.[/size]

[ChibiHorsewoman]

[QUOTE=Corey][size=1]The first thought that comes to mind is "Idiot."
The second, "reckless."
The third? Pure puzzlement. I'm confused why anyone would want to do this to their child, even if their political beliefs completely oppose it.
It's a risk, plain and simple. And now a child died.
I believe my first thought is most acurate.[/size][/QUOTE]

[color=darkviolet]Actually the first word that came to my mind was two words and only one of them can be typed without getting censured


I think in someways as a mother I understand why she wanted to breastfeed and under normal circumstances I would have no problem with it.

BUt the woman was being selfish and in some ways abusive to this child since she knew she was HIV positive. I don't really give a damn what her beliefs about the disease are or were or will be in the near future science shows that HIV is transfered through bodily fluids.

She was lucky enough to have had a child born HIV negative to begin with and instead of putting the baby on formula she sites the studies on how breast milk from a [i]health[/i] mother has nutrients (never mind that this is only for the first 3 days and breastfeeding only needs to be continued for the first 8 weeks if necessary or if you can't breastfeed- which I couldn't but is an entirely different story) and goes and does this stupid selfish act which cost her child her life!

I'd type more, but my hands are getting tired and so am I.[/color]

[DBZgirl88]

[COLOR=#004a6f]Well I would't say she was being selfish. From what I've read she was doing what she did for the sake of her children.

But she was being just plain moronic, not to mention delusional. Even if there was a chance that she was right about AIDS, though she isn't, all evidence shows that AIDS is caused by HIV and that the virus spreads through bodiliy fluids, and therefore she should take the neccesary percausions. If she wanted to have her children breast fed that badly, she could have asked another feeding mother to do so for her. Sure it might make the children attached to their nursing mother, but if it's for their health...

Anyway, I think it would have been better for the authorities to step in and take the children away until they were old enough not to breast feed. I know it sounds cruel to split families up like this, but we're talking about saving these children's lives.[/COLOR]

[Shi no Tenshi]

I can see where she's coming from, and I like to see when people stand by what they believe so strongly. However, her children are not part of that life, she had no right to enforce her views by endangering her children. They have a right to their own life just as she does. Guess we can only hope that she's willing to be more protective over the child that she's been left with.

[Kenshin DX]

The same story happened on ER the other night. I really dont care about this situation since it dosent affect me at all but I agree the mother is an idiot.

[Semjaza]

I've heard a lot about this movement stating how our current beliefs of AIDS are completely incorrect as is mentioned in this article. I even saw it on some music board since members of the Foo Fighters apparently agree with it. However, it doesn't seem like they have anything to back it up aside from some coincidences... either way, it certainly has less proof than what's currently believed.

[Gavin]

[SIZE=1]Interesting, most interesting.

Like Corey, the first thing I thought when I read the title was that this woman has to be some kind of idiot to endanger her children?s lives like that. Having read the original article I must admit I now feel a great deal of sadness for the young girl who had to die because of flawed choices made by her mother. I mean whether or not the child would have the stigma of being HIV positive, living with a stigma is better than dying because your parents beliefs prevented you from being diagnosed when it might have made all the difference. Whether or not the mother ends up with jail-time is irrelevant, because honestly I can't see some time behind bars changing her notions about this disease.[/SIZE]