ROBIN,

        Thank you thank you  for asking this question!  I can't wait to
hear the answer.  Do we have any infectious disease specialists out
there?  I have queried this as a hypothetical with a a few of my
supervising docs and we never come up with a definite answer.  I would
like to know this answer for myself as there is a chance that we will be
able to adopt an infant in a few years.  Of course we are highly
considering CHina now so there should be very low risk there.  I
understand they are TERRIFIED of AIDS and make HIV testing a condition
for passport before you can visit their country.

But if we adopt here (US) I can see this as a concern.  I would be
concerned as to posibility of transmission due to saliva (generally low
to nil risk, but nursing happens SOOO often the exposure becomes
"continuous"), blood in baby's mouth (microscopic) entering Mom's system
through openings at nipple, etc.  I have thought about this more than a
few times and am anxious to hear others perspective on this.  Also, (I'm
sure I won't articulate this well but I'll try), doesn't the breast
itself respond to microbes in the babies mouth to make antibodies to
"send back" to them via the next feeding of milk?  I hope I understand
that well and it is truly amazing to me!  Because (or if?) that happens,
that makes me think that if HIV is present in the saliva/microsopic blood
of infant, it could get foothold in the Mom's body.

If I were only responsible for myself that would be a fairly easy
decision,  but as a mother to the baby plus 3 other kids and a wife, I
would want to know as accurately as possible what the risks are in order
to make an informed choice.

Meg Wright, Physician Assistant
who took a break from Lactnet for a few months--I'm BAAAck!