Further, a portion of this sample excluded individuals
from their chosen family based upon whether they were related
by blood or marriage, reinforcing the value of these ties.
These findings are similar to those cited by Gaskins et al
for not disclosing HIV status, including fear of negative
reactions, worrying that disclosure recipients would tell
others, belief that there was no need to tell, and not wanting
to burden others.19 In contrast, our study findings also
emphasize essential components for disclosing HIV-positive
status to others. Similar to reasons suggested by Bor et al,17
we found that PLWH need an open, emotionally close, and
unprejudiced relationship with others to trust them enough
to disclose their HIV status.