My name is Jae, I am 39 years old and have been HIV+ for 18 years. I am a wife, mother to 3 boys, an employee, and full-time student. I live in Southern California, USA. I work in the medical field, the city I work in I come in contact with men that are HIV+. I just don't have anything in common with them. First of all they are men. Second, most of them are gay. I am neither. I have a family and have been married for 21 years. My husband is in law enforcement and I was a stay at home mother for many years. He is a bit of a private person and has suppressed my participation in activism. So reluctantly I have agreed to forgo being a face to the masses to sitting back and Blogging about my own experiences.
More about Jae…I am a very outgoing person. If there is a challenge on the table, I am usually the one to accept. I am the first to accept an invitation to go to a Karaoke bar, and sing (no alcohol needed), although the singing would sound better to you if you were drinking. I am generally a happy person. I have a big heart and want to help everyone. This is my opportunity to help others like me. Thank you for the opportunity to share my story. I hope my story might help someone create a positive one of their own.
Why Jae wants to be a part of A Girl Like Me: I have been so alone when it came to women's issues and HIV. I have always wanted to be a voice of women that are HIV+. Then I realized I don't know any other women with HIV. When I got pregnant with my youngest, I was the first HIV+ patient to deliver a baby at that hospital. I still had nobody to talk to. I wish there was a website that I could have turned to when I had questions. Just to know that I wasn't alone would have been nice.
