Lesbians and Herpes???

[YoungOne13]

I found out this girl I've been seeing has herpes, I'm a lesbian and I have no idea how to still be with her and be safe??? I truly care for her and I dont want to run just because of this, I want to know how to get around it??

[YoungOne13]

Thanks for the comment back, I will definately look up the websites you offered to me. I appreciate it. I dont know unfortunately which type she has and I'm a little nervous to come out and ask her....I dont want her to feel bad, I do however realize I will have to know if I want to further my relationship with her. She's a sweet girl and I dont want to just give up. Everyone I've confided in is totally telling me to run away from that, but I'm not one to judge. Theres a million good people out there with STDs and I would never base my opinion on someone just off of that. Well I will update you when I get enough nerve to ask her. I know type one the shedding rate is like 3-5% or something like that and type 2 is like anywhere up to 20%. That does make me nervous tho. Thanks again....

[auntiejessi]

Hi there -

Good for you for getting info first.  :)

Do you know what type she has?  You can get type 1 or type 2 genitally, and transmission rates are different for each.  If she doesn't know, she can ask her doctor for a type specific IgG herpes blood test.

Have you ever been tested?  You could have it and not know, so testing for you is a good idea.  

While you find this out, check out the herpes handbook at www.westoverheights.com and check out lesbianstd.com.

Before you get started, we don't have any real studies on same sex transmission of herpes, unfortunately.  :(  The best we can do is give you a guess.

Aj