Hydeia Broadbent Parents: Meet Loren Broadbent & Patricia Broadbent

Hydeia Broadbent is the daughter of Loren Broadbent and Patricia Broadbent. She was initially taken in as a foster child by Loren and Patricia Broadbent who later adopted her. In 1987, the Broadbents learned that Hydeia was HIV positive.

Not much has been known about Hydeia as her birth mother abandoned her at a Las Vegas hospital. Three years later, her birth mother gave birth at the same hospital to another child and left him there as well. As HIV testing was required at the time, both mother and child were tested, and the results were positive for HIV.

The hospital informed the Broadbents and they had Hydeia tested for HIV shortly afterwards. Her results were also positive. Her adoptive mother signed her up for a research trial to hopefully find a treatment that would work for Hydeia. Growing up, Hydeia regularly had blood infections, pneumonia, and fungal infections in her brain.

It was predicted that she would not survive childhood, and would die at the age of 5. Despite all predictions, she survived. However, when she was five, she developed AIDS.

She began attending school in 7th grade and attended Odyssey High School in Las Vegas from home using a computer.