Australian woman with AIDS wants IVF baby

Australian fertility specialists are reportedly considering a plea from an HIV-positive woman who wants treatment to become pregnant.

The Sydney Morning Herald newspaper today said today the woman wants to artificially conceive a child to avoid the risk of infecting her partner by having unprotected sex.

The Sydney Children's Hospital's paediatric Aids unit told the paper that with the use of anti-HIV drugs, the risk of the woman passing the infection to her child would drop from about 25 per cent to less than two per cent.

Monash IVF has revealed it has already begun offering IVF treatment to couples in which the man is HIV-positive.

The newspaper said a standards committee at Melbourne's Monash IVF centre would examine the woman's case tonight.