Hi Elaine,
I live in the same community where Kathleen Tyson lives, and watched the
whole drama unfold. To clarify, the Tysons never had their son removed from
them. Although they lost legal custody, I think for the 1st 12 months of
his life, they always had physical custody. Meaning that although Felix was
a legal ward of the state, he lived with his parents, and was always cared
for by them. I think it wd be entirely possible for a mom with HIV to
breastfeed "in the closet", regardless of how we as health workers, or they
as parents, interpret the available research. Or how we counsel or advise
them.
The Tysons were sanctioned right away by the legal system because they were
very open about their intention to breastfeed, and in fact Felix was
breastfed for his first 10 hours of life in the hospital. The intensity of
the social and legal response to their decision was in my opinion due to the
fact that they had been "adopted" by a fringe group who do not believe that
HIV causes AIDS. This group of activists, in my opinion, wanted a human
interest story that would get media attention for their viewpoint, and they
got it. I still wonder how the custody hearing would have gone had the
Tysons chosen to argue their case from an "informed consent" or civil rights
standpoint rather than from the premise that HIV does not cause AIDS.
Martha Johnson RN IBCLC
Eugene Oregon
-----Original Message-----
From: Elaine M Mazgelis [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Thursday, January 17, 2002 6:22 PM
Subject: Re: HIV and BF question
With all this discussion re HIV and bf, I am really curious about
something -
What ARE the things that might happen to a mom in the United States who
has HIV and has access to formula (especially if she's on WIC) and yet
she chooses to bf anyway? I have never had this question come up, but I
am curious: is it a GIVEN that DSS would be after her (and how would they
find out - are medical records still confidential re HIV?) or would that
depend on what state you live in (liberal vs. conservative)? I am REALLY
curious about these things; I know there have been cases where mothers
with HIV had their children taken away but does this ALWAYS happen?
Elaine Mazgelis, RD, IBCLC
WIC BF Coordinator
Cambridge-Somerville WIC Program
(in Massachusetts, of course)
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