After keeping her HIV diagnosis secret for five years, a woman found out that her husband had infected herself with HIV. She only discovered her HIV status after she became pregnant with his twins.
Renee Burgess, 38, revealed during a recent interview with Real Women/Real Stories that she was with the man for half a decade and had no idea that he was HIV positive.
He kept the information secret until she got pregnant with twins.
Later, he revealed to her that he knew about the disease from 2002 and confessed to having cheated on her throughout their marriage with other women.
After keeping HIV diagnosis secret for five years, a woman found out her husband had infected her with HIV. This was just days after discovering she was expecting twins with him.
It’s shocking: Renee Burgess (38), revealed in a recent interview, that she had been with Renee Burgess for almost a decade, and that she didn’t know he was HIV-positive.
Truth is out. He kept the information secret, until it became too embarrassing for her to admit that he had contracted HIV from her when she fell pregnant with twins.
Renee said that the illness was discovered during Renee’s prenatal visit on November 21, 2007. This occurred just months after the couple got married.
She said, “Back then I was living here in South Carolina with the new man, I was just a newlywed.”
“I went!” [to do the doctor]Because I was dehydrated, my stomach kept churning and I didn’t feel well.
After some tests, they discovered that she had HIV. It was a shocking discovery.
‘[The doctor]I was basically the only one who looked at me, and she said that she had tested positive for HIV. “I kinda got into a blank stare. I looked at the wall to avoid looking her in the eye,” she stated.
“I was in complete shock. When she asked me if they wanted to bring my husband into the room, I replied, “Sure. Bring him in, because, guess what, if I am HIV positive, he is the reason.”
He looked stunned when she said that she had given him HIV. But it was not a shock look. It was more like it was a surprise look.
Renee explained how she divorced her husband after a couple of months, on January 1st 2008.
She decided to call the police after she saw that someone had been sent to prison for infecting her partner with HIV a couple of weeks later.
“In the beginning February I was sitting down at home watching television and checking the news. There was a story that said that an elderly man and his partner were homosexuals. He had intentionally infected their younger partners.
“I discovered that infecting another person without telling them about your situation was a Florida felony crime.
“I immediately picked up the phone and dialed the Jacksonville Sheriff’s department’s sex crime unit. I called the detective to let him know about what was going on.
Being honest: He admitted that he knew about the disease from 2002 and had cheated on his wife with other men during their marriage.
Good riddance! The woman divorced the man, and she filed charges of knowingly infecting him. He was sentenced for five years after pleading guilty.
In a social media post, Renee said she believes the moment she got infected with the disease was on their wedding night – when they had unprotected sex for the first time
Renee claimed that she was stressed by what happened and went into preterm labor. She gave birth to her twins four months earlier than expected.
She was told by the detectives that she needed to record a confession from her ex. So, she called him up and had him admit everything.
“At that time, he was asking me to return to South Carolina to stay married to his, so I was like, let’s use this to our advantage,” she stated.
I sort of played it off over the span of several days like “Yeah…I might come home.” It was kinda hard to miss you. You are still my best friend. I knew good and well that I didn’t really love him any more and was not going to change.
“His Valentine’s Day present from me was to call him with the detective on 3-way with the recorder on while I asked every question the detective requested.
“I thought, “I must go to a psychologist. Then they gave me this questionnaire. All these questions are required for them to treat me. He answered every single question.
“He answered questions about when and how he was diagnosed. How long did he know. He knew he was positive from 2002.
Renee’s shocking confession was made during their telephone call: her husband had cheated with her with different women throughout their marriage.
“I discovered that he wasn’t only doing it with women but also with men,” she said.
They issued a nationwide warrant to arrest him after he had made a recorded confession. They took him to South Carolina where he was arrested. They took several months to extradite him back from South Carolina.
The defendant pled guilty, and was sentenced at the end to five years imprisonment.
Renee explained that she was stressed by the events and went into preterm labor. Her twins were delivered four months before her due date.
Although HIV is not a problem, they may be ‘developmentally delayed’.
These people are HIV positive, but they face difficulties from being “developmentally delayed”.
Now, she is remarried. She has two additional children with her husband.
Her motivational speaking is a big part of her work. Her experiences led her to write two books.
Her husband has given her two additional children. She was re-married. Her time is devoted to motivating others and raising awareness about HIV/AIDS.
Her story was even the subject of two books, Married But It Can Happen (and HIV Around Me).
The conclusion was that you shouldn’t assume that being in a monogamous or marital relationship means that you can’t have it happen.
“I was married, but I didn’t have a partner and wasn’t involved in any relationship. The guy I have known for 5 years is positive. He didn’t share it with anyone and just gave it to me.
It can happen to anyone. Many people have experienced it, even though they don’t want to believe that it has. It’s assumed that they are married and with the same person so it won’t happen. It can happen to anyone, just like it did to me.
According to a prior interview, 38 year-old woman said her husband’s first words were “Don’t tell anybody” on their car trip home from the doctor.
Additionally, she said she believed she was infected when she visited their wedding. This happened after they were exposed to sex on the first occasion.
“Before that date, we hadn’t had any unprotected sexual relations. This was something that I believed in. It is time for the couple to be married. In my case, however, the marriage did not go as planned,” she posted on Instagram at their 10th wedding anniversary.
“My wedding night was a success, but he also exposed me to HIV. He trusted me with my life, but he also took control of my health and decided to lie the best way.