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Abstract
This study is an attempt to explore experiences of families who switch parenting roles to AIDS Orphans, where either both or either of their parents was deceased due to AIDS. According to the United Nations, a child is considered as AIDS Orphans irrespective of whether he or she is infected with HIV from their parents or is free from the infection. This qualitative study was conducted in a fishing village in Perlis, Malaysia. Five families from a list of HIV/AIDS patients provided by the Ministry of Health were selected using purposive sampling method. Five primary guardians, consisting of mothers and grandmothers of the AIDS Orphans were interviewed in-depth. The study demonstrates that switching parenting to AIDS Orphans is physically and mentally challenging due to factors such as increasing demand of family roles and tasks, financial constraints, ways in which the children perceive and accept their status as AIDS Orphans, the bleak future of the children, and the unpleasant ways the children were treated and stigmatised by the community.