Safe Sex

 

 

What Is Safe Sex 

As we enter the 21st century there are, unfortunately, various risks connected with having sex. The chief ones are:

• Unwanted pregnancy

• Venereal diseases such as gonorrhea and syphilis

• Other sexually transmitted infections such as herpes, urethritis, pubic lice, scabies and viral warts

• HIV - the virus which causes AIDS

• Cancer of the cervix

Back in the 1970s, many people both straight and gay, enjoyed sex with a variety of partners assuming that there was very little danger. Unfortunately, that is no longer the case. It is only sensible to practice safe sex.

 

All sexual activity with a partner carries some risk, though the danger of infections is practically non-existent if the two partners are completely faithful to each other.

 

Safe sex means making sure you do not get anyone else's blood, semen, vaginal fluids, or breast milk in your body and protecting your partners too. So you have got to use particular contraceptive products that adjust with your body correctly every time you have sex to protect yourself and your partner from STDs and HIV.

 

Contraception

Contraception is the practice or methods used in deliberately by either man or woman to prevent various risks (above mentioned) connected with having sex .

Not too long ago, contraceptive products could not be displayed or sold in certain states, abortion were illegal and birth control methods were not very reliable. Although times have been changed remarkably, people are now faced a vast number of birth control products or methods, each with it's own advantages and disadvantages. In trying to make a personal choice people have a number questions. Why use contraception? How does each method work? How well does it work? What are the medical risks? How might each method affect my sexuality? What possibilities do I have if I’m already pregnant?

Here we will examine the currently available methods of birth control in an effort to answer some of these questions.

Why Use Contraception?

An individual’s or couple’s decisions about birth control can depends on many factors, including age, future plans, marital relationship status ( including trust and cooperation), finances, religious beliefs, sexual attitudes health and prior experiences. Not using birth control if you are sexually active is a specific kind of personal decision, just as choosing to use birth control, whatever the reason, is a personal decision.

The main reason for using birth control is to prevent an unwanted pregnancy likely to cause emotional turmoil and health risks, it also may present financial burdens. Often, unwanted pregnancies occur in young teenagers or women over thirty five, times when health risks during pregnancy are highest. The social and economic costs may also be high at these same ages, as these two quotations show:

A twenty-two –year old woman: I got pregnant when I was fifteen and had my baby the day before sixteenth birthday. My parents wanted me to finish school, and they took care of my son for a while when he was little, but then my father died and I had to drop out to go work. Now it doesn’t look like I’ll ever marry-who’d want to have me?

A thirty- seven –year –old woman: I’d been married for fifteen years when I got pregnant again at thirty five. My two other kids were fourteen and twelve, and I was finishing a two years course to be a court stenographer. I had to change my plans completely and become a mother again, and it was no cup of tea, believe me. Now my husband has filed for divorce, and I’m sure the baby was part of the cause.

Of the 1.2 million teenagers who become pregnant in the USA each year, more than 400,000 obtain abortions. Many others drop out school or enter into hasty marriages where the odds of divorce are high, the chances of getting a try to raise a child alone or with the assistance of relatives, but this plan often proves more difficult than it might at first seem. An unplanted pregnancy at any age may also an emotional cost to an unwanted pregnancy. Feelings of foolishness , guilt, anger, or helplessness may strain or break a relationship ( "It was all your fault"), or may create later sexual problems.

In the developing and under developed countries people are poorly know about contraception so the birth control situation or the risks of having unsafe sex is exacerbated.  

Of course, there are other reasons for using contraception, including the wish to space pregnancies, limit family size, avoid potential genetic disorders or birth defects, protect the mothers health, and allow women more control over planning their lives. Contraception also permits people to enjoy a sexual relationship without making commitments to marriage or parenthood.

Limiting reproduction also has major social and philosophical consequences in a world of limited natural resources where overpopulation exerts political and psychological effects and environmental issues are of prominent concern.