Heather Corinna

I sent this in response to the New York Times piece published last week regarding abstinence-only education. Alas, I didn’t hear back from them, so I offer it up here instead. I feel it’s important to get as much informed commentary out there on this issue as possible right now, especially…

Since there are so many different pill brands, so much information to sort through, and since with adolescents and/or young adults information on some aspects can vary slightly, and we get so many questions about the pill, it seems it’s high time to give the most basic rundown I can speaking to…

Pregnancy is not likely to occur for most people who menstruate who have sex during their periods. But because ovulation schedules can vary – and be particularly erratic for younger people – it’s never smart to have unprotected sex at any time you do not WANT to become pregnant, even during your…

You’ve been having unprotected sex. That means you have been at risk of pregnancy and well as sexually transmitted infections. The pregnancy risk is moderate to high, depending on your fertility, and your partner’s sexual habits (as in, if he has ejaculated recently before unprotected intercourse…

Hey, Jamie. First things first: there are all of two or three countries in the world where it’s even lawful for you to have intercourse at your age, and in most places, many other kinds of sex. If you’re writing in from the states, there is no state in which you’re at the age of consent. However you…

What it most likely is is just normal vaginal discharge. We have a good piece which outlines what is or is not normal here – Honorably Discharged: A Guide to Vaginal Secretions – but I’m happy to put it into more context for you here. Basically, throughout most or all of your fertility cycle –…

When we wipe after toileting, it’s pretty unusual for us to even directly touch our vulva, let alone stick our fingers into our vaginas and touch our cervixes. And really? Truly? About the only way you could become pregnant from sperm on your hands was if you had a lot of it, perfectly fresh, and…

Our sexual fantasies really don’t limit our actual, out-of-our-heads sexual experiences. Sexual fantasy and sexual reality are separate. Fantasy is influenced by reality, and reality can be influenced by fantasy if we choose, but they still are two very different things. For many people, much of…

It sounds like you’re not confused at all to me: in fact, I hear you being really clear. You know he wants one thing, and you want something else. You know you don’t want to do something he wants to do. In short, you know that the two of you want different things and that as it stands, there’s no…

Hey Anon: I’m sorry about the loss of your Mom. Often Dads really can do just as good a job in terms of talking about these things, so if he’s open to it, you might want to consider talking to him. But obviously, what’s important is that you have someone to talk to you feel comfortable talking to…