(CNN) -- No one expected them to live long.



A glass tree at the University of Miami commemorates those who died from complications of HIV/AIDS.



Many of their peers succumbed to unusual infections by their first or second birthdays.  They were living on borrowed time, it seemed.



While their friends' parents visited schools, these kids visited their parents' graves. When their classmates planned for the future, they often thought about death.



But those babies who were born with HIV/AIDS in the 1980s have defied initial expectations.



With advances in medicine, the babies born with what was once thought of as a sure-fatal virus have danced at their high school proms, walked on stage to receive their diplomas and even experienced the birth of their children.



"It's a battle -- not because the HIV is going to defeat us," said Quintara Lane, a 22-year-old student with long braids. "It's more of what we have to go through to take care of ourselves."



Lane is part of a generation that was born with the virus. Since the mid-1990s in developed countries, antiretroviral drugs have largely prevented mothers from transmitting HIV/AIDS to their babies.



A new kind of family



On a warm Florida Friday, boys in high-tops and loose jeans hanging from their thighs greet one another with a nod and then a slap on the hand. They tease relentlessly. Others pay little attention, listening to music blasting through their earbuds or texting so quickly that their thumbs appear a blur on pink, sparkly phones.  See more photos. »



Nearly 30 young adults and teenagers who were born with HIV/AIDS meet every week at the Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami, Florida.



"The teens are teenagers," said Ana Garcia, an adjunct assistant professor in pediatric infectious disease and immunology at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine who helped form the group. "They just happen to have HIV. It's about fitting in, being normal, and having goals and living long enough to meet them."



The group of HIV-positive teens, which calls itself the Kool Kids, formed in 1995. The youth who grew up with HIV/AIDS describe the usual complications of adolescence  --  dating, high school drama and rumors. But they also experienced broken families, medical complications and fights for acceptance. As their parents and family members died, the peer group here became a new family, Garcia said.



Over an hour of joking, merciless teasing and eating Chinese food, the teens scarcely mention HIV/AIDS. It's a fellowship that silently understands one another's struggles.



"We don't want to talk about HIV every day," said Eric Koumbou, 19. "If you talk about HIV and you don't have it and I do, sometimes it makes me angry or makes me sad."



Even if they don't talk about it, it helps a young person with HIV who may think, "This is the end of my life. I don't know what to do," said Lane, who joined when she was 11. The older teens support the younger ones and show that HIV/AIDS doesn't consume one's life.



Quintara Lane



Lane was raised by her grandmother after her mother left her at the hospital.



More than two decades ago, "The families frequently lacked hope," said Dr. Gwendolyn Scott, director of Pediatric Infectious Disease and Immunology at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, who treated the newborns. "Many times, the parents died when children were at a young age."



As a child, Lane understood she had to take "vitamins" -- two dozen antiretroviral pills chopped into pieces and taken with orange juice every day. The pills made her nauseated and gave her headaches and skin rashes. Side effects of taking the medications can include gastrointestinal problems, weight gain, neuropathy and other symptoms.



"I didn't want to take the medicine," Lane recalled. She lied to her grandmother about taking
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