Since 2018, Rachel has involved DIS students as research assistants in her DIS-supported project, HIV and Reproductive Technology Access.
The study, co-authored by former students Karli Gigstad, Wesleyan University, Ying Li, Brandeis University, and Julia Thaler, Wesleyan University, and published online in the Journal for Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare, explores the availability and accessibility of Medically Assisted Reproduction (MAR) for people living with HIV in Europe.
The research involved consultation with over 36 experts across 20 countries to build an overview of MAR access within Europe.
From the study:
“Across Europe, many people living with HIV face discrimination in accessing fertility treatment… the accessibility and availability of medically assisted reproduction for people living with HIV in Europe is complicated and, in some countries, inconsistent. We encourage sharing best practice from countries with less restricted access.”
The study also focuses on Sweden as a case study for the complexities and contradictions of MAR access for people living with HIV.
“The Swedish case highlights the unclear and complicated nature of policy and practice. People living with HIV are not legally prohibited from accessing fertility treatment in Sweden… (yet) people living with HIV remain largely unable to access treatment in Sweden” due to multiple factors such as differing clinical interpretations of national regulations and outdated practices in the face of new evidence.
This study is just one of three publications emerging from Rachel’s project that she has co-authored with DIS research assistants in both Stockholm and Copenhagen.
Learn more
Read the article, ‘HIV and access to fertility treatment in the European and Swedish Contexts’
Find all DIS Stockholm research opportunities
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