My advice is NO, NO, NO. One of them gave it to you, you need all your strength and mental fortitude to win the WAR you are in right now and NOW is the only important thing you need to take care of!!! Semper-Fi Bob

It seems that the opinions are pretty clear towards one big NO.

To add some extra info, and I apologize if it is TMI, in my particular case, both doctors and I myself think we can have a good guess of whom/when I got it from. Long story short, I was in my first relationship with first boyfriend for 6 years, and in year 4 Gardasil came on the market and my doctor offered it t ome, even though I was above the age of 26. So I had Gardasil, all the three doses. As we know, it doesn't protect you if you have already been exposed to those particular HPV strains. So some of the doctors and a world-known HPV epidemiologist I was able to talk to think that most likely I got it from the first boyfriend (the odds!), with some small possibility of getting it even earlier through some activities such as kissing/drinking from the same straw that to my knowledge carry some low risk of oral transmission, though nobody is yet certain just how big the risk is.

So since it looks fairly certain that I got HPV before I had Gardasil, that is why feel morally obliged to disclose the information to people I have been involved with after the first boyfriend.

Ambra dear, give yourself a break. An unequivocal "NO". Focus your energies on your own well-being. It's not that I think you are not morally obliged to do so - I just don't think it's necessary.

[quote=richl796]I'll chime in also. My MO made a point to say I probably was exposed in my early 20's, was contagious for a bit and didn't know it, my body finally killed it off and I've lived my life to now being neither contagious nor able to contract it again.

-Rich [/quote]


I don't believe you were given the correct advice. According to the HPV research scientists I speak to we are NEVER immune to it due to exposure. We can acquire it and clear it countless times throughout our lifetime. That's why the Gardasil Vaccination is Soooooooo important.

Interesting topic.

I'm sure I contracted HPV in my youth. I had no idea I had it until the pathology of my tumors came back. Initially, the pathology from my 1st tonsillectomy didn't reveal it (nor was the primary ever found).

Contacting past partners from my 20's on is just NOT going to happen logistically and otherwise. I don't even remember some of the names for goodness sakes! (I partied A LOT in those days ~lol~).

That being said, there are those I truly loved in my life but I have no idea where they might be nor do I feel compelled to even look at this point. My partner and caregiver (and soon to be fiance') knows about it so that's what counts.

Personally, I don't feel it's necessary to tell past partners but it's your own personal decision. Good luck in whatever you decide.

"T"