The study findings, published in the journal AIDS and Behavior, show clinicians need to be aware that HIV-positive women may be struggling with decisions about motherhood.

"We shouldn't assume that women aren't going to become pregnant or don't want to become pregnant now that they have HIV. That's an erroneous assumption," study co-author Julianne Serovich of Ohio State University in Columbus said in a statement.

"Clinicians should be routinely discussing pregnancy with HIV-positive women of childbearing age."

In the study, age was as a major factor with nearly 40 percent of women under age 30 and 11 percent over age 30 opting for pregnancy. Other factors that influenced the decision to be a mother included fears about transmitting the disease to her child and concern about her own health.

The researchers collected questionnaires about pregnancy decisions from 74 women who were participants in a larger, long-term study exploring women's HIV disclosure decisions and mental health. This study emerged from interviewers' observations that participants were talking about pregnancy and sometimes becoming pregnant.