safer sex

“Birth control” or “contraception” simply means any number of methods a person may or does use in order to try to prevent pregnancy. So, condoms are birth control. The pill is birth control. IUDs are birth control. The Depo-Provera shot is birth control. Withdrawal is birth control. If you choose…

Right now, it sounds like you are your partner are practicing withdrawal as a form of birth control. As a method of contraception, withdrawal is not the most effective choice available. With perfect use it is about 96% effective (meaning that about 4 out of every 100 people using it will become…

There are a bunch of things you can know and do that I think are going to help you feel a lot better. When we talk about the effectiveness of any kind of contraception, including condoms, we reference two different groups of figures. One is perfect use: that means a person always uses their method…

Sex addiction is a popular topic on talk-shows and in mainstream media (where the goal isn’t accuracy, but ratings), but it isn’t something many sexologists consider credible. I’m not on board with the idea myself. Our collective ugh about it has a lot to do with the way addiction is clinically…

Before I dig in here, I want to make clear that I don’t think there is any one right age, right time, or right kind of relationship for everyone when it comes to what makes sex right or best. That varies from person-to-person a lot, and isn’t usually based on something as simple as only how old we…

It’s not a strange question, but it certainly is an infuriating issue. That woman was either dishonest with you or unknowingly mistaken. In the United States, all 50 of them, minors may purchase condoms just like legal adults can. That also includes minors who are not above a given state’s age of…

If you are not looking to become pregnant, then chances are good you have just been very lucky so far. Generally, in one year of sex without any method of birth control, around 80 - 90% of young women will become pregnant. So, for now, it seems you’ve been that 10 - 20% of women who haven’t… so…

Talking with your parents about sex can be really hard – even if your parents are really open and start the conversation themselves rather than you starting it – or even if your parents are totally supportive of your boyfriend or girlfriend and your sexual activities. Here are some tips and helps to make it easier on both of you.

Frankly, if I had a partner – at any age – who, from the onset, was trying to talk his way out of cooperating with managing risks, risks that I would bear the greatest burden of, I wouldn’t just insist on a condom. I would insist on not being sexual with that person at all. I – and you – deserve…

If your boyfriend has Chlamydia, you can get it yourself via either oral sex or vaginal intercourse. Using condoms for both those activities, however, greatly reduces your risks of contracting Chlamydia and other sexually transmitted infections. So, if your partner has it, and you don’t use a condom…