You may have heard that it’s best to practice safe sex when you are dating, but do you know why? Do you understand the importance of protecting yourself and those around you from a variety of issues that can be caused by unsafe sexual practices? Let’s look at a few of the most important reasons why safe sex is so vital to a happy and healthy life.
Avoid STD’s
Probably the best reason to practice safe sex during a new relationship is to prevent STDs from spreading. You want to avoid contracting them from your partner or passing them onto your partner if you are a carrier. Using condoms, even when performing oral or anal sex, is one of the keys to preventing STDs from moving from one person to the next. Whoever has STDs will need to be treated for them as well, so they won’t be a problem in the future.
Even if you don’t think that you or your partner have STDs, you can’t be too careful. This is important at the beginning of a sexual relationship, because trust may not be fully established yet, and there could be important medical history that the two of you are keeping from one another. Just as you may not feel like sharing everything about you with someone you have only known for a few weeks, they too may not feel like sharing everything with you. It’s possible that one of you is hiding an STD or has an STD that is undiagnosed that you don’t even realise you have yet.
You may want to have both of you tested for STDs. Even if you have already been tested recently, it is a good idea to start a sexual relationship with this precaution for the both of you, to help establish trust and prevent any STD from spreading.
Avoid Pregnancy
It’s not just STDs you have to worry about, though. Using protection and safe sex practices is a great way to avoid becoming pregnant. While one or both of you may want children at some point, it is not a good idea to become pregnant near the start of a relationship. It’s simply too easy for someone to bail from that relationship at that point when they find out that their partner is pregnant.
Pregnancy, as wonderful as it can be, can put a serious strain on a new relationship. You may both seem happy together and compatible, but you may not know how the other person will react when one of you becomes pregnant. The male partner can become scared and act unpredictably, and the pregnant female may suddenly feel like they are with the wrong person to have a child with. It’s best to just hold off on having a kid and becoming pregnant until you both develop a stronger relationship with one another and get to know one another better.
Safe sex may seem restrictive and a barrier to trust, but it’s actually a smart move for new relationships. It prevents unwanted and unexpected hurdles from getting in the way of the new relationship and allows that relationship to bud naturally until you are both comfortable with one another. Keep in mind that most contraceptives are not designed to prevent the spread of STDs, and you need to use appropriate protection to prevent both STDs and pregnancy.
If you or your partner are not comfortable getting tested or using protection, then you may want to consider holding off on making your relationship sexual until you are comfortable with taking this precaution that will protect the both of you.
