MOTHERHOOD & AIDS Project
STRENGTHENING BONDS. motherhood and AIDS Angelita is 85 and her youngest son, 歧el Luis, is 47. They should be living their own lives separately but circumstances donԴ allow them to do so. 歧el has a cerebral atrophy caused by HIV. HeԳ got AIDS. And
Angelita (left) is 85 and her youngest son, Ang歧el Luis, 47. They should be living their own lives separately but circumstances don'tԴ allow them to do so. Ang歧el has a cerebral atrophy caused by HIV. HeԳ got AIDS. And his mom has taken the option of looking after him until her last day.
Since the first case of AIDS was known in Spain in 1981 the disease has progressively increased. Three of every 1.000 inhabitants are infected with HIV and there are around 2.000 to 3.000 new annual infections.
For society these people are invisible. But the fact is that a positive result in an HIV test can also be a bond to family or friends. The family response to the announcement of an HIV test is usually positive. After the initial shock thereԳ is one member of the family who tends to strongly link herself to the infected son or daughter; sheԳ is the mother. Many times, mothers who had lost touch with her sons and daughters because of their independence welcome them back and look after them when they announce they are infected, no matter how they got the virus.
This reportage explores the relationship between Angelita and her son 歧Angel Luis, who got sick in 2001. Doctors estimated that he had been infected with HIV for 20 years without knowing. 歧el was a heroin abuser and he too liked having sex with prostitutes. Despite all the problems he brought to his mother'sԳ life, she opened her arms for him every time he needed help, and she took the option of looking after him again when he became sick. By choosing this way of living, Angelita lost most of the members of her family, including her two sons-in-law and almost all their sons and daughters. Even though she knows that 歧Angel'lԳ sickness has brought her many problems in an age when she should be living a quiet life, she promisses that while she is alive none will take her son far away from her.
