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Want to know where to get tested for STI's and STD's?
Call A CENTER FOR WOMEN at (407) 628-5433
If you're pregnant, STI's and STD's can affect your baby, too!
By best calculations, professional sex educators in the United States estimate that
-- no matter how many reality shows or "Girls Next Door" or "Sex in the City" episodes air --
fewer than 25% of all men and women, married and unmarried, of all ages,
have a completely accurate understanding of female fertility and male fertility
and the prevalence of STI's (sexually transmitted infections) in our society.
Slideshow with STD & STI desciptions and photos
(Click on the first link entitled "Sexually Transmitted Diseases and Infections PowerPoint,"
then use the password "gameplan" to view this graphic presentation.
If you don't have a PowerPoint viewer, download a free one here:
Free PowerPoint Viewer download)
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 Feeling lucky? Ready to gamble with your future?
Consider these odds:
*More than 20% of Americans over the age of 12 are already
infected with genital herpes.
*65% of those who will get an STD this year will be under 25.
*80% of those infected with an STI have no symptoms and do not know they are currently infected.
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Those who postpone sexual activity until they can have a committed, faithful relationship (like marriage!) with an uninfected partner are completely protected from STI's (sexually transmitted infections), from the infertility complications which can arise from them, and from nonmarital pregnancy. If this behavior choice -- "abstinence until marriage" for short -- were to become the norm, it is likely that all STI epidemics would be reversed. This is the real cure for the epidemics of STI's in our world. See our "Sexual Exposure" risk chart page > > > >
What's the difference between an STI and an STD?
Medical Institute's really sharp "Fact Sheets" about the different STI's > > >
Ramah International's Quick Facts Page on STD's > > > >
What's the relationship between STD's and STI's and fertility?
Several STI's have virtually no symptoms when initially contracted, so no steps are taken to prevent them from developing into the full-blown diseases or from having permanent effects on the reproductive systems of both women and men. Because of the nature of the female reproductive system, the infertility effects are greater and irreversible.
Here's how that works in just one type of infection:
According to the Center for Disease Control's report to the government on the subject of the effects of Chlamydia infections on young women, untreated Chlamdial infections result in severe and costly health issues for young women in particular. One of these results is Pelvic Inflammatory Disease (PID), a major cause of infertility and one of the primary causes of life-threatening ectopic (tubal) pregnancy.
As many as 40% of women with untreated Chlamydia infections will develop full PID with its accompanying debilitating chronic pelvic pain and the inability to conceive. Of those with PID,
20% will become infertile; 18% will experience disabling chronic pain; 9% will have at least one life-threatening ectopic pregnancy.
Untreated Chlamydia infection is also bad news for babies born to mothers with it: they can be born with eye infections and pneumonia. And this is just one of more than a dozen STD's which are known to impact fertililty and neonatal health.
Some STD-STI Myths & Fairy Tales:
- You have to have sexual intercourse to get an STD.
- Certain people can't get STI's.
- If you are clean and well-groomed, you can't get an STD.
- You can easily tell if someone has an STD.
- STI's are easily treatable.
Statements like these are false! Anyone can catch an STD, no matter what they look like, where they live or what their income level. In addition, symptoms are often invisible, making it impossible for you to know for sure if someone has an STD or an STI. And infertility is one of the possible consequences for your failure to protect your reproductive system from infection. It really is a gamble with your future, isn't it?
Think you might be dealing with a suspected STD? Get solid information:
* Fact sheets on STD's from the Center for Disease Control (in English and Spanish and in several different formats for easy print-out) OR call A Center for Women. We have community resource referrals, places to send you so that you can find out if you've contracted an STI or an STD. Call (407) 628-5433.
So, now some facts about Fertility Awareness among adults -- and, naturally, this awareness is even less among teens. Women tend to be better informed on the subject than men. Several studies done by international natural family planning groups from 1990 through 1999 yielded the following:
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Most women don't know how many days a month a woman is fertile.
(7-9 is the right answer.)
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25% of women didn't understand what was happening inside their bodies on the day they begin each menstrual cycle.
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35% of women and men answered incorrectly to this question: True or false -- A woman runs a risk of getting pregnant each and every time she has intercourse. (True is the right answer. This has to do with how many days sperm can stay alive inside a woman after intercourse, how irregular her ovulatory cycle is, and a number of other factors.)
If you want more answers to specific questions about human fertility or
how STD's can impact your fertility, please contact our educators and counselors:
A CENTER FOR WOMEN (407) 628-5433
Free Pregnancy Testing + Free Pregnancy Support Services & Counseling
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acenterforwomen.org
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