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SM: How did you feel toward the boyfriend that infected you?
Marvelyn: I always look back to that night and … he had let me know he didn’t have a condom. And he made sure it was my choice. So I was like, ‘well if you would have used a condom you wouldn’t have been in this situation. You had a choice.’ So I was never mad at him for infecting me. I was mad at him for not wanting to talk to me afterwards.
SM: Do you know how he got it?
Marvelyn: No. Once I told him I was HIV positive, he basically kept his distance.
SM: Did he know he had HIV at the time he infected you?
Marvelyn: I do believe he knew.
SM: It’s hard to believe you weren’t angry at him for infecting you. Marvelyn: I look at it as ‘what if he had it and didn’t know about it’—I still have HIV. And being so open about my HIV status, I also know why people don’t tell you.
SM: What was it like when you went back to college?
Marvelyn: A lot had changed. When I was released from the hospital, I had to take [medication] at nine o’clock in the morning and nine o’clock at night. Nine o’clock in the morning meant school time for me. People would ask me, ‘do you have it?’ and I would deny it. But when I was taking the medicine, people figured it out. I became the laughing stock of the school to the point [where] I would walk to my classes by myself. There was one time when I was eating in the cafeteria and they threw my tray away after I set it on top of the trash can. It actually got so bad that I dropped out of college and never returned.
SM: How did you feel when people shunned you?
| summer | |
| It takes a courageous woman to speak out against HIV. Thanks for sharing your story, Marvelyn. | |
| crashing_nightingale | |
| Thanks Marvelyn for being so open and continuing to share your story with others. This is the kind of reality check people need but often forget. | |
| asya | |
| Many people are still unaware of the difference between HIV and AIDS and think that both only affect certain groups of people. It was helpful to read this interview in many ways, one of which is that it was a wake-up call to be more careful. | |
| ucsdgirl | |
| I admire the fact that Marvelyn is optimistic regardless of her situation and does all she can to help others. | |
| Pari-love | |
| "I have a mission; I have a purpose in life." Marvelyn's philosophy on life is definitely inspiring and one to imitate. I admire her for all her courage, because I don't know if I could be as strong. | |
| axcar | |
| I will definitely share this story with my two teenage daughters and their girlfriends who will be entering college. This is something that young people do not think about and it comes with devasting consequences. I appreciate Marvelyn's desire to help others. She is so unselfish and brave. Thanks for the wonderful article Delilah. I am happy to be able to share these stories with my daughters( the story about the young girl who was raped and this story) and hope to possibly save them and their friends from the painful experiences these poor young women had to go through. Thanks again. | |
| Carolanne -- Los Angeles | |
| What a powerful story. Hearing about someone like Marvelyn really reminds us that it could happen to anyone. | |
| Maya522 -- Plainfield | |
| I'm so glad that Savvy Miss did this story on Marvelyn Brown. It reinforces the fact that HIV does not discriminate. I think it is great that Marvelyn is so open with her feelings and beliefs and does not define herself based on her HIV status. It is definitely an article that I will share with others. | |
| TinyDancer | |
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I truly feel for Marvelyn. She is a beautiful woman and I applaud her for being so courageous to share her story with everyone. But it makes me so angry that people are still having unprotected sex all the time. Let this be a wake up call that diseases are real and it could happen to you or someone you know. |
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| Truthbetold1 | |
| Marvelyn, I am very proud of you. For you too have the courage that you did when you revealed yourself to the public eye tell us a lot about you, however, I feel that because HIV is such of a deadly thing, it's selfish on your behalf when you choose to sleep with another who's negative. I underthand that you are a victim yourself, but a negative person should be educated on the disease, and you should just walk away because you know better than they do. Men can be so stupid when it comes to sex and a good orgasm, so they really don't think about the after-effects. I had a friend/Trina that died in 2004 and my 2nd cousin died in Sept 2007, so I understand how you feel. If I offend you, I'm sorry, but that's just my opinion. | |