Kansas Woman Almost Lost Custody Of Her Kids Because Her Fiancé Is HIV Positive
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Donna Branom[/caption]
Donna Branom, of Wichita, Kansas, has regained custody of her two children following her ex-husband's legal complaint that their safety was jeopardized by Branom's HIV positive fiancé.
Branom was due in court in June, but failed to appear after mixing up the dates, and therefore enacting the ex-husband's request that Branom's fiancé, Henry Calderon, Jr., have zero access to their children; Branom herself would have to submit a blood test before any state-supervised visits with them.
Back in court at the beginning of the month, after not seeing her children for nearly three weeks, Branom was accompanied by HIV experts (one of them Calderon's doctor) who testified that his viral load was very small, and the risk of him transferring the disease to the children was almost non-existent.
After hearing these testimonies, and undeniable medical proof, the judge concluded that Branom did not put her children in danger, and she was allowed joint custody of them once again.
"I was estatic that we finally got our babies back," Branom said. "Cause that's what we wanted. It's not right for him to try to deny us. Cause we didn't do anything wrong except for love each other."
Just further proof that prejudice from the stigma of HIV is still very much a thing. Inform yourselves, people!
h/t: HIV Plus Mag
