Miami Herald; Tuesday, October 1, 1991
Jeffrey Kleinman, Herald Staff Writer

Now he's none of the three.

After 16 months at the state's only nursery for babies with AIDS and the virus that leads to AIDS, Steven is now living with a family seeking to adopt him.

Like 70 percent of the babies who test positive at birth for the AIDS virus, Steven ended up testing negative a year later.

Doctors explain that a positive test at birth might be inaccurate. Newborns still carry their mother's antibodies -- and a baby's own immune system doesn't fully develop for another year.

"It's a matter of the mother's antibodies shriveling and the baby's kicking in," said Dr. Stephen Halpert, director of the maternal addiction program at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami. "Nature takes care of it."

Those babies who continue to test positive usually show signs beforehand, with yeast infections, slow healing and diarrhea. Steven had several problems, but there were no indications he was an AIDS baby, though he did test positive for the virus at first.

Yvette Moran-Hardy is Steven's foster mother. The two got to know each other last year when Moran-Hardy was a volunteer at Connor's Nursery, a 12-bed facility visited last year by first lady Barbara Bush shortly after it opened.

"He seemed to be the baby who needed the most care," said Moran-Hardy, 52, who has three grown children and three grandchildren. "I would sit and rock him and we got very attached. I just fell in love with him.

"This is the last thing I thought I'd be doing."

During Steven's time at Connor's "he screamed nonstop and drove the staff out of their minds," said Kathy Carter, the nursery's executive director. Steven's newest obstacle is seizures, brought on by the cocaine his mother used. He was at Good Samaritan Hospital Monday for observation, Moran-Hardy said.

Several other babies first thought to be HIV-positive are at Connor's waiting to be placed in foster care like Steven. Testing negative is a plus when it comes to a cocaine baby's chances of being adopted, Carter said.

When the grandmother of a 2-year-old found out he had recently tested negative, she promised to adopt him, Carter said.

"It opens all the doors for these little guys," she said. "There is a crisis in foster care. HIV just compounds it."

Since Connor's opened in February 1990, five babies have died. Four of the babies now in the nursery have full-blown AIDS and aren't expected to live past their fourth birthday. The fate of several more has yet to be determined.

The good news: Eight have tested negative after first testing positive.

"I wish I had those odds," said Larry Hyer, HIV positive and co-founder of a Positive Link, an AIDS awareness organization sponsoring a walk-a-thon Sunday to benefit Connor's and five other AIDS groups in Palm Beach County. The walk begins at 1 p.m. at Trinity Park on Flagler Drive.

About 500 walkers turned out last year, the event's first. Hyer anticipates double the number this year.

The money that Connor's gets will go for things any baby needs -- like diapers and food.

Always watch for outdated information. This article first appeared in 1991. This material is designed to support, not replace, the relationship that exists between you and your doctor.

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