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Editorial Team
Community Contributor
These stories are shared by community members who wish to remain anonymous. Each story represents personal experiences, challenges, and perspectives from people navigating relationships and dating journeys.
Articles Written By Editorial Team
Dating After Diagnosis
- Dating After an STI Diagnosis: How to Know You're Ready and Take the First Step
- How to Notify Past Sexual Partners About an STI Safely and Confidentially
- Just Diagnosed with an STI? How to Process the Shock, Anger, and Grief
- Overcoming STI Stigma: How to Stop Feeling "Damaged" and Rebuild Your Self-Worth
- STI Disclosure and the Law: What You Need to Know Before Dating
- STI Privacy Guide: How to Protect Your Status from Friends, Family, and Coworkers
Dating with Herpes (HSV)
- Daily Antivirals for Genital HSV-2: How Much Can They Reduce Transmission?
- Debunking Herpes Myths: Essential Facts to Educate Yourself and Your Date
- Herpes Asymptomatic Shedding: How Transmission Can Happen Without an Outbreak
- Herpes Dating Apps & Sites: What to Look For Before You Sign Up
- Herpes Discordant Couples: How to Build Safe and Fulfilling Intimacy When Only One Partner Has HSV
- HSV-1 vs. HSV-2 in Dating: Types, Locations, and What They Mean for Your Love Life
- Recognizing Herpes Prodrome and Outbreaks: When to Pause and Resume Intimacy
- When and How to Disclose Genital Herpes to a Date: Scripts, Risk, and Key Facts
Dating with HPV
- Debunking HPV Stigma: Myths About Promiscuity, Cancer Fears, and the Real Facts
- Does HPV Clear? What an Undetectable Result Really Means for Dating
- High-Risk vs. Low-Risk HPV: Warts, Cancer Risks, and What They Mean for Dating
- HPV and Condoms: Why Barrier Protection Is Only Partial
- HPV, Fertility, and Family Planning: What It Means for Long-Term Relationships
- HPV Vaccine and Dating: How Gardasil Protects You and Your Partner
- If HPV Is No Longer Detected, Do You Still Need to Disclose to New Partners?
- Why There Is No Routine HPV Test for Men—and What That Means for Dating
Dating with HIV
- Does an HIV-Negative Partner Still Need PrEP If Their Partner Is Undetectable? (Medical Facts & Decision Guide)
- HIV and Pregnancy: How Mixed-Status Couples Can Safely Conceive a Healthy Baby
- HIV Dating: Mainstream Apps vs. HIV-Specific Platforms (How to Choose)
- HIV Disclosure Laws & Dating: Legal Risks, U=U, and How to Protect Yourself
- How to Disclose Your HIV Status to a Date: Scripts, U=U, and Timing
- Serodifferent Dating: How Mixed-Status Couples Build Safe, Fear-Free Intimacy
- U=U and Dating: What Undetectable = Untransmittable Means for Your Love Life
STI Dating Advice
- After the Disclosure: How to Handle STI Rejection, Ghosting & Doubt with Dignity
- Dating With a Curable STI: How to Handle Disclosure, Treatment, and New Relationships
- Discreet STI Dating: How to Protect Your Privacy & Avoid Being Outed
- How to Disclose Your STI Without Making It Feel Like a Confession
- How to Educate Your Date About Your STI Without Overwhelming Them
- Keeping the Spark Alive: How to Maintain Natural Intimacy After STI Disclosure
- Mainstream Apps vs. STI Dating Sites: Where Should You Look for Matches?
- STI Dating Green Flags: How to Know If a Date Respects Your Health Boundaries
- When to Tell a Date You Have an STI: Finding the Right Disclosure Timing
STI Dating Safety
- After a Potential STI Exposure: What to Do Immediately and When to Seek PEP or Testing
- Beyond Condoms: Vaccines, HIV PrEP, and Doxy-PEP for STI Risk Reduction
- Catfishing and Romance Scams in STI Dating: Red Flags & Verification Guide
- Consent and Personal Boundaries in STI Dating: Navigating Sex, Condoms, and Pressure
- Dating Across Different STI Statuses: A General Safety Framework for Couples
- Dating App Privacy Guide: How to Protect Your STI Status and Personal Identity
- Does a Full STI Panel Test for Everything? What Standard Testing May Miss
- Emotional Safety in STI Dating: Spotting Gaslighting, Status Shaming, and Toxic Control
- First Date Safety in STI Dating: From Online Chat to In-Person Meetings
- Handling STI Disclosure Threats, Stalking, and Sextortion in Dating
- How to Ask for, Share, and Verify STI Test Results Safely
- Oral Sex and Non-Penetrative Intimacy: Understanding Risks and Safer Practices
- Skin-to-Skin vs. Fluid Transmission: Which STIs Can Spread Even With Condoms?
- STI Testing Windows and Asymptomatic Infections: Understanding Hidden Risks
Dating Stories
- 37 Rejections: What Dating With Herpes Taught Me About Worth and Fear
- Beyond the Queer Grid: What Dating with an STI Taught Me About Love, Risk, and Being Seen
- After Going Public Ⅰ: An Irrevocable Choice
- After Going Public Ⅱ: A Price Beyond Expectation
- After Going Public Ⅲ: Traps at Every Turn
- After Going Public Ⅳ: Just Stay Breathing
- Dating With an STI Is Five Different Games. I Played All of Them.
- Dumped for Having HIV, I Wanted to End It All—Until I Read This Message
- I Posted a Dating Ad with HIV and Got Eviscerated
- I Thought Herpes Stole My Future. Then I Learned How to Build One.
- I Thought I Knew HIV. Then I Fell in Love With Someone Living With It
- My First Date After Being Diagnosed with an STI: How I Overcame the Fear and Got Back Out There
- The Fear of Telling Him Was Never Really About Herpes
- What I Learned From Dating With HSV: The Awkward Conversations, False Safe Havens, and the Long Road to Choosing Myself