willing to help parents of HIV+ kids?

[Aylaeight]

Hi there,

I am an occasional poster (mostly lurker) on the forums.  I am the adoptive mom of three kids, two of whom are HIV+.  I am working on starting a new private yahoo group.  It is intended to be sort of a fact-finding/advice group for parents and prospective adoptive parents of HIV+ kids, but my broader purpose in starting the group is to try and get adoptive parents (like myself) to step out of our bubble and to get input from others - not just other adoptive parents - about issues related to HIV and and raising our kids.  There are a growing number of families like mine, but I know few who actually connect with HIV+ youth/adults on a regular basis.  We mostly look to each other for support and information. I think this is a problem.  I know that there have been many times already for me as a parent where I would have appreciated having the input/advice of someone who was HIV+, but I don't know anyone well enough to ask and don't always feel comfortable posting on public groups like this, since we have kept our kids' status pretty private.

Anyway, I envision it as a pretty general group - talking about adoption and health related issues as well as social/stigma issues, but I do feel like the most important part of it would be if some of the voices responding to parents were those of people actually living with HIV.  I am looking for people who would be willing to sign on and respond to questions from parents here and there.  No commitment is necessary - just patience and the willingness to follow the group's rules.  I imagine (hope) there will be parents just starting out with very little info about HIV, and others who are more experienced asking more complex issues.

If you are willing to contribute, please join me at
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HIVAPR/

Thanks!
A