Assuming you are a guy, let us suppose you had sex with your girlfriend (let us suppose you have one) and let us suppose something wrong just HAD to happen. A bad condom, a slipped condom, whatever. Which disaster would you rather prefer happen: you knock the girl up into an unwanted pregnancy, or you get genital herpes? (For the pregnancy option, there is no abortion and you remain an upstanding member of society, either by sticking around or paying child support.)
Think.
Now, my answer to this hypothetical question usually surprises people. On any given day I'd much rather prefer genital herpes (not that I do).
The response of most people (that I've asked) is to choose the unwanted pregnancy, figuring that you can "grow to love the child," but such answer ignores the cardinal truth that you should never have a child for which you are not prepared financially, experientially, and psychologically. Have a child and you are forever bound to bear its responsibility for at least 18 years and sometimes into the college years. Adding up all the expenses large and small, one child costs hundreds of thousands of dollars to raise and support. "Grow to love the child," you say? Even that is a gamble.
But genital herpes is a minor nuisance. Yes, genital herpes is much the worry if you are elderly, have a weak immune system, or are a pregnant woman, but I bet you are none of the above.
Nine out of ten infected people either are asymptomatic or their symptoms are so minor that they don't even know it. For the one-tenth who have severe-enough symptoms, outbreaks are a few days out of the year, the first outbreak is the worst, and outbreaks decrease in intensity and frequency over the years. Unless you are in the aforementioned high risk groups, genital herpes doesn't cause your body any harm (except, of course, for some discomfort during an outbreak). It's the laziest freeloading parasite you'll ever meet. Medicine for genital herpes is dirt cheap compared to raising a child and is not a regularly incurred monthly expense.
Think.
Now, my answer to this hypothetical question usually surprises people. On any given day I'd much rather prefer genital herpes (not that I do).
The response of most people (that I've asked) is to choose the unwanted pregnancy, figuring that you can "grow to love the child," but such answer ignores the cardinal truth that you should never have a child for which you are not prepared financially, experientially, and psychologically. Have a child and you are forever bound to bear its responsibility for at least 18 years and sometimes into the college years. Adding up all the expenses large and small, one child costs hundreds of thousands of dollars to raise and support. "Grow to love the child," you say? Even that is a gamble.
But genital herpes is a minor nuisance. Yes, genital herpes is much the worry if you are elderly, have a weak immune system, or are a pregnant woman, but I bet you are none of the above.
Nine out of ten infected people either are asymptomatic or their symptoms are so minor that they don't even know it. For the one-tenth who have severe-enough symptoms, outbreaks are a few days out of the year, the first outbreak is the worst, and outbreaks decrease in intensity and frequency over the years. Unless you are in the aforementioned high risk groups, genital herpes doesn't cause your body any harm (except, of course, for some discomfort during an outbreak). It's the laziest freeloading parasite you'll ever meet. Medicine for genital herpes is dirt cheap compared to raising a child and is not a regularly incurred monthly expense.
