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Home / Answered Questions / I was in what I thought was a committed relationship last summer and then found out that my ex boyfriend was seeing someone else. We had stopped being intimate and saw each other very rarely during the last month of our relationship because I suspect by that time he was with the other woman. He was extremely worried about germs and cleanliness, so I don’t think he was intimate with both of us at the same time, but I can’t say for sure. It didn’t occur to me to get tested last summer as I was very trusting of him, but I am now feeling worried because our condom had broken two separate times during intercourse and we had also had unprotected sex once. He always used the pull out method along with the condom for extra precaution, so he never ejaculated inside of me, but I am worried about any pre ejaculation that could have lead to STI’s being transmitted. I haven’t felt anything ‘wrong’ with my body since our relationship ended 12 months ago, but I also know that some STI’s don’t present any symptoms. I have been seeing someone else for the past 5 months and have just started birth control, so the use of condoms will soon be little to none. I recently had a pap test (still waiting for the results) and pelvic exam where my doctor said everything was looking normal and healthy. I wouldn’t want to risk the health of my boyfriend in any way, so am I correct that I still need to get an STI test done?

I was in what I thought was a committed relationship last summer and then found out that my ex boyfriend was seeing someone else. We had stopped being intimate and saw each other very rarely during the last month of our relationship because I suspect by that time he was with the other woman. He was extremely worried about germs and cleanliness, so I don’t think he was intimate with both of us at the same time, but I can’t say for sure. It didn’t occur to me to get tested last summer as I was very trusting of him, but I am now feeling worried because our condom had broken two separate times during intercourse and we had also had unprotected sex once. He always used the pull out method along with the condom for extra precaution, so he never ejaculated inside of me, but I am worried about any pre ejaculation that could have lead to STI’s being transmitted. I haven’t felt anything ‘wrong’ with my body since our relationship ended 12 months ago, but I also know that some STI’s don’t present any symptoms. I have been seeing someone else for the past 5 months and have just started birth control, so the use of condoms will soon be little to none. I recently had a pap test (still waiting for the results) and pelvic exam where my doctor said everything was looking normal and healthy. I wouldn’t want to risk the health of my boyfriend in any way, so am I correct that I still need to get an STI test done?

Hi and thanks for your question. It is recommended to do STI testing after a relationship ends and before a new one. At some clinics, testing for chlamydia and gonorrhea is automatically done at the same time as the Pap test. You would need to check with your doctor if these tests were done when you had your pap test done. If so you would not need to do these tests. If you wanted to also test for HIV and syphilis (blood tests) then you could ask your doctor to order these for you or you and your new partner could do all the testing at an STI clinic. To find a clinic near you, see:
http://smartsexresource.com/get-tested/clinic-finder
Hope this helps, Health Nurse