The Graying of AIDS

In year 2003 I already need to be on medications, but at that particle of time, that we need to pay about 1,000 ringget Malaysia, and my salary is less than 1,000. So… I, I stop seeing the doctor because the doctor says, “You need to be on medication.” I rather, you know, feed my […]

Categories: Age 50-54, Asia-Pacific, Female • Tags: children/parenthood, cost of treatment, death/dying, faith/spirituality, grandchildren, liver health, Malaysia, support, treatment access, Tuberculosis

Katherine, age 56 / Adelaide, Australia

I always wanted a big family, you know – four to six children. My career was in childcare. I found out that I was positive and pregnant at the same time. My partner came with me, and we found out that he was also positive. And they basically said three things to us: “Don’t tell […]

Categories: Age 55-59, Asia-Pacific, Female • Tags: Australia, children, death/dying, family, grandchildren, grief/loss, guilt, jail/incarceration, joy, married/life partner(s), pre/post-test counseling, stigma, substance use/recovery, support, working in HIV/AIDS community

Deloris, age 54 / New Jersey, “Jamerican” (USA & Jamaica)

I am very fortunate. I’ve been able to educate myself to the graduate level. I hold down a really decent job. I make, in nonprofit, nonprofit-decent money. (Laughs) That’s a disclaimer. I think to live with HIV you have to have a lot of support. And if they’re not coming from your family? You have […]

Categories: Age 50-54, Female, North America • Tags: Art/creativity, children/parenthood, companionship, dating/relationships, faith/spirituality, fear, grandchildren, HIV/AIDS education, isolation/loneliness, Jamaica, keeping busy, support, trauma, United States, Work/Career, working in HIV/AIDS community

Bev, age 63 / Gunditjmara Nation, Wangaratta, Australia

I don’t feel OLD old, ‘cause I’m still feeling young, because I’m still here, you know. I feel really grateful that I don’t ponder on, oh, you know, I’m turning into this old woman or anything. I used to be offended when, say 10 years ago, when people would stand up for me in the […]

Categories: Age 60-64, Asia-Pacific, Female • Tags: Aboriginal/Indigenous/First Nations, Australia, children/parenthood, grandchildren, gratitude, life experience/age as an asset, positive outlook

Susan, age 62 / Melbourne, Australia

By the end of ’99, I’d really been living with HIV for over a decade – my health was going downhill rapidly. I was doing a PhD thesis. I was telling people, check the hard drive in case I die, check the hard drive. Everyone was saying, go on the medication, Susan. I saw all […]

Categories: Age 60-64, Asia-Pacific, Female • Tags: Australia, CD4 count, early antiretroviral medications, medication, Viral load/”undetectable”

Doris, age 58 & Randy, age 48 / Canada

Doris: I was caught up in my addictions, and I thought the weight loss was connected to my substance use, until I started seeing other complications with my health. And that’s when I went for an HIV test. While waiting for my HIV test, I made the decision to go back home, because […]

Categories: Age 55-59, Female, North America, Trans / Non-Binary / Two-Spirit • Tags: Aboriginal/Indigenous/First Nations, ACTIVISM, anger, Art/creativity, Canada, children/parenthood, death/dying, domestic violence, faith/spirituality, family, grandchildren, HIV/AIDS education, love, moving home, NGOs, sexual violence, stigma, substance use/recovery, support, trauma, weight

Claire, age 55/ San Francisco, CA, USA

I just remember being very naïve, you know, and people would tell me to do something, and I would do it. I didn’t know any better. The good news is is that they told me– this is when AZT was the only treatment. And they put me on AZT and I just took it, because […]

Categories: Age 55-59, Female, North America • Tags: AZT/early medications, gratitude, HIV/AIDS education, HIV/AIDS myths, Illness/Wellness, life experience/age as an asset, privilege, shame, side effects, treatment adherence, United States

Hazel, age 54 / San Francisco, CA, USA

Getting older is like, um… Things are happening with my body that I don’t like. You know, my mind is still 25– my mind wants to be 25, my body is not. You know I wanna, like, run around with my 15 year old step son, and I can’t. For me, getting older with HIV […]

Categories: Age 50-54, Female, North America • Tags: caregiving, children/parenthood, married/life partner(s), positive outlook, United States

Ethel, age 60 / Paramaribo, Suriname

I’m one of the long-term survivors. I’m not use medicines because my viral load is undetectable and my CD4 cell is still high. I have a healthy lifestyle. I’m thinking positive. And also, I love myself. I’m one of the public speakers in my country, in Suriname. I was living in Holland, and I got […]

Categories: Age 60-64, Female, South America • Tags: Suriname

Andrea, age “51 and a half” & Edward, age 55 / New York, USA

Edward: She used to follow me around all the time. I was 15, she was 11, so I looked at her like a kid, like my little sister, and she became my best friend. Andrea: We lived in the same neighborhood in New York. Long Island. I’ve always been in love with him, […]

Categories: Age 50-54, Age 55-59, Female, Male, North America • Tags: Couple, United States

Charlene, age 54 / Texas, USA

I always knew that there would be a possibility. I had some friends that passed away. I was a intravenous drug user. My lifestyle prior, from ‘80 to ‘88, wasn’t the nicest thing. But I stepped out on faith and changed that on my own. By 1988 I had changed my whole life around. I […]

Categories: Age 50-54, Female, North America • Tags: United States

Jan, age 64 / Mataura, New Zealand