In most cases, children born to HIV positive mothers test positive during the first three months. But within about 15 months, many of them test HIV negative. This phenomenon is restricted to infants.

The ELISA and Western blot tests used to detect HIV indicate the presence of antibodies of the HIV virus. Offspring of HIV positive mothers are bound to show positive in these tests, as the antibodies are transmitted to them from the mother. But this doesn't always mean the HIV virus is present in the infant's body.

Dr Ashish Pathrikar, pediatrician attached to Jaslok Hospital explains that as the child grows, he develops his own antibodies and those transmitted from his mother slowly disappear. That's why, after a few months, the infant tests negative. ``But if the HIV virus is present, thechild will always test positive,'' he says.

Tejasvini (name changed), a cherubic 18-month-old at Mahalaxmi's Bal Asha Trust is on her way to join her new parents in Norway. Tested every three months for HIV antibodies, Tejasvini would test positive every time. She finally tested negative six months ago and was put up for adoption. Payal, the first such child to be adopted from Bal Asha by a Mumbai-based family, is now eight. During the last seven years, at least ten such children from Bal Asha, Family Service Centre and Indian Association of Promotion of Adoption and Child Welfare (IAPA) have been adopted. ``When we began getting HIV positive children in the mid-80s, we wouldn't have dared to talk about it. But attitudes have changed and the bottomline is never to withhold any information from those who wish to adopt,'' says Madhavi Hegde Karandikar (MSW), honorary secretary of Bal Asha Trust.

Karandikar insists all children be tested for HIV soon after birth. She says, ``A positive child won't be able totransmit the HIV virus to people around him easily. But if he's exposed to individuals with tuberculosis or any other infection, it would be dangerous for him.'' IAPA president Kaumudi Telang advises parents to consult a doctor to understand what HIV-negative means. ``The period before the child tests negative is crucial for us. We place children in foster families after advising them on how the child's clothes should be washed separately in case he bleeds,'' says Telang.

HIV can be transmitted from the mother to the infant during pregnancy or post-birth, due to breast-feeding. Doctors are divided on whether an HIV-positive mother should breast-feed her baby. ``In developed countries, HIV positive mothers don't breast-feed. But in developing countries, the risk of an infant dying of malnutrition on being denied breast milk is higher. And as the risk of transmission through breast-milk is low, we advise them to continue feeding,'' explains Dr Srikant Balsubramanyam, a pediatrician at Gurunanak hospital.Though children who turn HIV-negative are normal, not all parents would accept them with open arms. Children like Tejasvini are lucky. But for three and five-year-olds like Shubha and Rasika, who still test HIV positive, and always will, the future seems uncertain. Unless the ray of hope spreads even further.