Asymptomatic Shedding, Twenty Year Marriage

[Cochise12]

I have been married for twenty years.  For three years prior to my marriage I did not have sex with anyone but my future wife.  In late March of 2008 I received a call from my wife indicating that she had had a herpes outbreak and a positive serology for HSV 2.  Within days I was tested, never having had symptoms of my own and my serology came back negative.  

My reading indicated that the virus can be dormant for years, perhaps even decades, and events can trigger a long dormant virus to cause an outbreak.  However, over the last 20 years we have had unprotected sex thousands of times.  With the current knowledge of asymptomatic shedding how likely is it that she had a dormant virus over that period and never shed, and never infect me?  She tells me that she also never had sex outside of our marriage.  

In the last year and a half, I have believed her, but my reading on shedding has led me to think that it would be highly unlikely for me to test negative after all that time and the previous frequency of sex.    

Is it likely that she has had a dormant virus all that time and never shed and I would remain negative with above scenario?

[petal130]

What were the numeric results of her blood test? Have you been tested as well?

[Verysaddude]

I know what you are thinking but there is no way to tell if she caught it in 08 or before you guys were married....from what I read, it is possible that she could have had it for years and years without ever having a symptom..or she could have had a symptom that she mistaked for something else and you could have just been a one of the lucky people who didn't get catch it...its a tough call

with whatever happened though, just remember that you are very fortunate that she didn't pass it to you...