[dylav]

My husband and I are planning to adopt from Ethiopia. We are wondering how accurate the HIV tests performed in Ethiopia are? Please PM me if you feel the need to. We would appreciate any feedback to prepare us for our exciting journey

[ocracoke]

The HIV test in Ethiopia can be very accurate. You want to make sure that your agency uses the PCR test or will do the PCR test at your request.

Samantha

[renee-albright]

Our childs labs actually show two hiv test a dna pcr and an ag/ab elisa

[isitnaptime]

Like others have said, they are very accurate. If you are interested at all, people are able to adopt children with HIV. I know this isnt for everybody, but thought I would through it out there.

If you want anymore info talk to AAI in washington.

[hopefully4]

I adopted for the first time from Ethiopia in 2005 and have adopted three soon to be four times. In all that time, I have never heard of someone adopting an HIV+ child unknowingly. The HIV tests are done at the American embassy before the children come home and because there are special rules about adopting HIV+ children ( a waiver, fee, and a little extra paperwork), I think the embassy is pretty strict about their tests. If you have questions about adopting HIV+ kids, please feel free to ask.
Katie

[weilands]

My husband and I are in the exact same place as you. We are strongly considering adopting from Ethiopia but were concerned about HIV and the accuracy of the tests. Also, I have done research on how long it can take for a child's test to show up positive once they were infected. The general response is up to 6 months after infection. Does anyone have any different information than that? Any help/information is greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

[ocracoke]

The Elisa test is an antibody test. Therefore it only tests for antibodies that have formed in the body. So if your baby was born to an HIV+ woman it is possible that your baby would test positive for HIV for some time (I am blanking if that is 6 month or 18 months) and actually not be positive. The baby has acquired the mom's antibodies during gestation but has not acquired the virus itself. It is also possible that the child is tested negative just after infection because the antibodies have not had a chance to form yet.

The PCR test actually tests for the HIV virus itself (not the antibodies). This means that there are essentially no false positives and no false negatives with the PCR test.

This is what has been told to me by an AIDS researcher and an infectious disease nurse. If you need clarification on this issue it is always best to seek the knowledge of someone who works with this on a regular basis. When I talked to my pediatrician about this issue (she is an international adoption specialist) she had essentially no knowledge about HIV and the proper testing and had to connect me with people who did before I could make appropriate decisions about testing.

Samantha

[Ethiopiamama]

As it has been posted. HIV testing in Ethiopia is very reliable. The US Embassy choices the clinic that does the testing, and you know they want good results. Ethiopia wants to have very transparent adoption practices and I was impressed with all the medical testing.