What’s Important

STD’s are seen as a topic too taboo to talk about in most African American households. However, my mom talked to me about the importance of STD testing. I was also involved in the healthcare field and knew a lot about the signs and symptoms.

While in college, my first real love was the only guy I ever had sex with without a condom. I was on birth control and remember getting a UTI. I thought that was what was wrong with my body, and after antibiotics, I felt better for a while. In a few months I ended up going to an appointment at the OBGYN because I had extreme pelvic pain. I’d had an IUD placed for about a year and thought that was causing the pain. I had it removed and then came back in like two weeks for my annual pap smear.

At the appointment, I got tested for STIs and HIV. It was then that I found out I had contracted Chlamydia—and I knew it was from the guy because I did not sleep with anyone else. I confronted him, and of course he lied about it, but I later learned the truth from a mutual associate.

It is so important to listen to your body, don’t trust guys, use protection and get tested regularly.

-Age 25