How do I get tested for STDs? I've always heard about doing them but I really dont want to just like walk into a hospital and do one because then my parents would get notified because im on their insurance. Is there any sort of at home panel I can buy and what is the process of actually doing one like?
Good question!
There are places that do free walk-ins for STI panels, so I don't know that your parents would be notified. I think it probably varies depending on where you're living and your age.
For in-person (in case you decide to go down that route), they collect different samples depending on what STIs you want to be tested for. Often they don't test for herpes unless you request it.
The samples they require can range from blood, semen, urine, as well as genital, rectal and throat swabs! They're generally very quick and they'll also examine places like your genitals and anus to see if there are any visible signs of STIs just in case.
Sometimes they'll want to make a follow-up appointment to discuss your results but depending on where you are, sometimes you can just ask them to contact you about the results and that's it.
There are at-home testing kits as well!
They're generally expensive (though you should look them up in your area because some groups offer them free!!) and vary depending on what STIs you're testing for, so there are quite a bit of options.
But, just like in person, you'll be trying to collect the same sort of samples I mentioned before (just by yourself) and then generally you pack them up so that you can send them off and get your results.
(This video discusses a bit more in depth on the process of taking samples for yourself for STI testing, if you're interested, Anon!)
Hope this helps! Let me know if you have any other questions. <3
It's always better to know for sure than than to live in the dark, because you can't treat an infection you don't know you have, after all.
Many STIs are asymptomatic when you first catch them, so it's important to check even if you don't have any symptoms.
There are many options available for getting tested, from visiting your local sexual health clinic or your doctor, to ordering (usually free) test kits online which come in discreet packaging. There's no reason not to! :)
Reblog to spread this reminder, because it's vitally important to get tested once a year.
As many as one million straight Brits think they cannot contract HIV, despite rising cases among heterosexuals, a study has revealed.
Chantelle Billson (February 6, 2024). "A shocking number of straight Brits believe they can’t contract HIV." PinkNews.
Excerpts: "... HIV is on the rise for heterosexual people, who are ... 40 per cent ... of all new cases. HIV can infect anyone regardless of sexuality, race, gender, sex or age. ... 3 per cent of Brits [wrongly] believe they can’t contract the virus – a figure equivalent to hundreds of thousands of UK adults. ... The study also found 73 per cent of straight Brits have never tested for the virus ... HIV testing is provided free on the NHS in the UK, with home testing and sampling kits also available."
The reproductive health giant is navigating a loss of federal funding and fresh threats from multiple directions
Carter Sherman at The Guardian:
At least 20 Planned Parenthood clinics across seven states have shuttered since the start of 2025 or have announced plans to close soon – closures that come amid immense financial and political turbulence for the reproductive health giant as the United States continues to grapple with the fallout from the end of Roe v Wade.
The Planned Parenthood network, which operates nearly 600 clinics through a web of independent regional affiliates and is overseen by the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, is facing a number of threats from the Trump administration. A Guardian analysis has found that Planned Parenthood closures have occurred or are in the works across six affiliates that maintain clinics in Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Utah and Vermont.
In late March, the Trump administration suddenly froze tens of millions of dollars in funding for nine Planned Parenthood affiliates, including at least two that have since closed clinics or are set to do so soon. The funding, which flowed from the federal family planning program Title X, was used to provide services such as contraception, cancer screenings and STI tests.
“The ways in which this administration is dismantling access to public health and public health information are really troubling and, frankly, force us to make these difficult decisions very quickly,” said Shireen Ghorbani, interim president of Planned Parenthood Association of Utah, which saw $2.8m of its Title X funding – 20% of the affiliate’s budget – frozen under the Trump administration. It has since closed two clinics as well as laid off a number of staffers who worked on initiatives like sex education.
Last year, Ghorbani said, 26,000 Utahns received Title X-funded care at Planned Parenthood. Ghorbani does not believe that Utah’s Republican-controlled state legislature will step in to create a substitute program.
“I will be shocked if a single cent is spent to make sure that people are able to control their health and their sexual and reproductive lives,” she said.
Planned Parenthood’s financial woes have raised eyebrows for some advocates of abortion rights and reproductive health. The organization has weathered several crises, including allegations of mismanagement, in the years since Roe collapsed – but as the face of US abortion access it continued to rake in donations. (Most abortions in the US are in fact performed by small “independent” clinics, which are grappling with their own financial turmoil.) As of June 2023, the Planned Parenthood network had about $3bn in assets, according to its 2024 report.
[...]
Additionally, the supreme court is weighing a case involving an attempt by South Carolina to remove Planned Parenthood from its Medicaid program over the organization’s status as an abortion provider. If the high court greenlights South Carolina’s move, it could pave the way for other red states to refuse to reimburse Planned Parenthood for Medicaid costs.
In Congress, Republicans’ “one big beautiful” tax bill, which has passed the House of Representatives and is now being considered in the Senate, also includes a provision that would effectively bar organizations that offer abortions from receiving Medicaid reimbursements for other reproductive health services. The provision is so narrowly tailored – it only applies to organizations that received more than $1m in Medicaid reimbursements – that it would only affect Planned Parenthood.
At least 20 Planned Parenthood clinics have shuttered due to financial and political pressures as a result of the anti-abortion Trump Regime taking power this year.
