I've Had HPV. Have You? Share Your Story!

16 Sep 2011
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I’ve had HPV. I’ve written about it. I’ve been mocked and criticized for it. But because of that entry and my admission, I’ve had countless readers reach out anonymously over the years to share their own stories with me, stories that they haven’t always felt comfortable telling to anyone else. Well, today is HPV Day, a campaign organized to raise awareness and destigmatize discussion of the most common sexually transmitted infection in the United States. And I’d love for you guys to take part by starting a much-needed dialogue.

Here are some quick facts about HPV:

Estimates for HPV infection rate range from over 50 percent to nearly 80 percent of the sexually active population.
There is no “cure” for HPV in the traditional sense, but most strains of HPV are harmless, non-cancerous, and clear up on their own.
Condoms may reduce but do NOT prevent the transmission of HPV, which is spread through skin-to-skin contact.
There are usually no physical signs of HPV, though some people experience genital warts, which are easily treatable (but they are harder to detect in women than in men, because of their appearance in the vaginal canal)
There are no HPV tests for cisgender men, but Gardasil has been approved for males 9-26 in hopes of preventing the spread of cancerous strains among women. In very rare instances, men may be at risk for anal or penile cancer, but typically, the disease is riskier for women.
Cervical cancer is nearly 100% preventable as long as you get regular, annual pap smears to catch early precancerous cells

As Jen Doll at The Village Voice wrote on Wednesday:

Perhaps the greatest danger in the battle against HPV is one of PR. People are ashamed (after all, it’s an STD), and women in particular are shamed. No one wants to admit it, no one talks about it, and when people do, it’s in whispers and there’s a lot of misinformation. What if no one wants to date or have sex with me ever again?, think women. What if I’m “dirty,” or “ruined”? What if I can’t have babies?

But what if you knew that almost everyone you knew had at one point had (or currently has) HPV? Would you feel less ashamed? If all of us have had it, and all of us admit it, doesn’t it take the shame, and some of the fear — not to mention the fear of getting the vaccine — out of it?

Doll’s post and the follow-up call to action published yesterday have mobilized people across the Internet to talk about their experiences with HPV. But you don’t have to own a computer to take part:

Tweet, Facebook, or simply tell someone — we don’t care how! — that you have had, or currently have, HPV. Tell them as much or as little as you want to share. Choose who you tell. Maybe you don’t want to Tweet it — maybe you don’t even use Twitter. Maybe you don’t want to put it on your Facebook page. Fine. We’re not going to be pushy, and it’s your body, after all. Do it when you’re ready. But do it today!

Wouldn’t you feel fine, minus the illness, telling someone you had or have a cold, or even, say, pneumonia? Why does this virus, simply because it’s obtained through sexual contact (which, by the way, if you’ve had any of whatsoever, you’ve been at risk for HPV — whether you’re a woman, man, in a monogamous relationship, engaging in safe/vaginal/oral sex, or otherwise), have to be imbued with shame and secrecy?

Maybe your doctor told you you had HPV, and you’re watching it, or maybe, luckily, it’s gone away on its own. Maybe you’ve had a colposcopy, or a LEEP, and you’re still going for frequent checkups to followup. Maybe you, like writer Ayelet Waldman, had the unpleasant experience of having cancerous lesions removed but went on to have children and continue in a successful marriage. Maybe you’re a guy, and your sister or your girlfriend or your wife or your mom or your best friend who happens to be a girl dealt with HPV. By age 50, 80 percent of the population of the U.S. will have … there’s a good chance someone you know already has.

Even if you don’t have someone with whom you feel comfortable discussing this topic, take some time to check out the #HPVDay hashtag on Twitter. It’s incredibly heartening to see how many people are in the same camp, and it illustrates just how silly it is to stigmatize the vast majority of the population for something that is out of their control.

I’ve had HPV, and I’m sure many of you out there have too. Please share your story; you might be surprised by who can relate.

Related posts on HPV:

Why I Won’t Shut Up About Having HPV
Reader Question: “How does one discuss HPV with future partners? Should I just put my life on hold?”
Reader Email: “I thought no one would ever want me because I have/had a STD.”
Reader Question: “Can your immune system ‘cure’ itself of HPV?”