YOU ARE HERE:
Disclosing your HIV status to partners
When the first edition of this book was written in the summer of 2004 it included that statement: "The bottom line is that there’s no legal requirement in the UK to tell your sexual partners that you’re HIV-positive. It’s up to you."
Since then circumstances appear to have changed. HIV-positive individuals have been convicted of recklessly infecting their sexual partners with HIV after they failed to disclose their HIV status to them. These convictions were upheld after the individuals appealed. Some legal experts now believe that these rulings mean that an HIV-positive person needs to tell their sexual partners of their health status before they have sex, even if they are going to use condoms.
When telling your past, current, or future sexual partners that you have HIV, think about how you are going to do this, and think how you might respond to their reactions, which might not be what you hoped for. Health advisers at sexual health clinics can contact your ex-partners for you (if you are willing for them to do this and it is practical).