Do they test men front and back, up and down, now? In the old days, they wouldn’t test your backside if you said you were str8! :rolleyes:
You misspelled “irresponsible.” While it’s true that donated blood is checked for disease, donating blood if one suspects one may have a disease is irresponsible. Unlike a real blood test with a medical professional, not all donated blood is tested (some never reaches that stage, for a variety of reasons), and there is no follow-up.
But other than that, donating blood is a good thing.
To the OP: the first time I had to be tested was by my pediatrician (I was 17 and hadn’t “graduated” to a grown up doctor yet). He was straightforward, didn’t blink or change expression, and so I assumed that the testing was a normal part of adult life.
Part of the questionaire / screening process in Canada eliminates anyone who says they have had a new partner in the last 12 months and do not know that partner’s complete sexual history. Interesting, since no one ever knows anyone’s sexual history with any degree of certainty (and all blood here is tested for HIV in any case).
I am annoyed that doctors here seem reluctant to bring up anything related to sexuality. I’m also stunned at the number of women who think they’ve been tested for STDs because they had a pap test. Ugh.
Gee, because the fact that screening isn’t perfect means you may be passing a pint of diseased blood to someone else? I really, really hope that no one else thinks giving blood is a substitute for getting tested. That’s a really terrible thing to do.
Every once in awhile I feel like I’m getting over my disillusion with gay men. You snapped me out of it, Hamish dear.
Getting tested, even if you’re in a relationship, is a good idea. But damn if I’d ever “not mention it” if I thought my boyfriend was cheating on me. Men are capable of acting on more than their most base instincts, and I really hope actual monogamy is not impossible for every man. What can I say? I’ve always had high expectations. And I’m not interested in open relationships.
I’m not saying you can trust a college boyfriend as though he were a husband. But I’m with irishgirl - one day, I hope to settle down into a nice, monogamous relationship, and when I do, if I’m concerned he’s cheating, the relationship is over.
How nice for you. Obviously, then, the arrangement in question will not work for you as described.
I’ve never been tested–neither my gynecologist nor my GP has ever suggested it, though they both know I’m sexually active.
The key factor is that my boyfriend and I are monogamous and are each other’s firsts. While I appreciate that it is always possible for someone to cheat, I trust him not to, as he trusts me, and our birth control methods do not include condoms. Make of this what you will, I feel the risk is well within the bounds of acceptability. My choice may well be different in future relationships, especially if I don’t know the guy well beforehand.
That being said: the moment I suspected the BF of anything, I would get tested, and might or might not end the relationship depending on the circumstances. If it was determined that he had cheated but we decided to work things out, I would insist on his being tested as well. I would not consider the testing itself a big deal, nor would I put off doing it once I decided it was prudent. I don’t understand people who feel they can play with their health or that of others in such a silly way.