Hi, tarwin. I agree that the information that seems to be online - or, more to the point, is Not online! - about this specific question is rubbish (I've been looking for you). First things first, just to make sure you know and that you know where we stand, the things you've come across implying that...

kawani, I'll be shorter than I would want to be just now because I have a headache-migraine thing and amn't good for much right now (just feel bleh but am otherwise fine, no worries :) ). Just didn't want to completely disappear on you! You're so very welcome. We'll see if/what we can come up with n...

It's bad enough for healthcare workers to tell a patient that they're fine or making things up when the patient knows something is wrong; for them to laugh at a patient is reprehensible. Having past bad experiences with healthcare professionals can definitely make it much more difficult and loaded t...

I'm so sorry that these things happened to you, kawani. Like Snorkmaiden said, none of this was your fault. With the 14-year-old, you were not "the bad one" - you weren't "the bad one" in Any of what you just said, but you were talking about those events specifically. You didn't ...

Welcome to the boards, erisnight. There isn't a way of predicting when your period will come. Using emergency contraception can cause temporary changes to the menstrual cycle for some people, and for other people it doesn't. It can also be different for the same person on different occasions. Your p...

(MissAj, welcome! Posts on this board - the Ask Us board - are intended for discussion between the original poster and staff/volunteers only. You're welcome to join in on the Got Questions? Get Answers! board for your first five posts, and then on all our boards, and to ask your own question here. T...

That's alright. We've had some similar questions asked in our advice column, so perhaps you'd like to take a look at those columns and see what things particularly speak to you? http://www.scarleteen.com/article/relationships/im_a_sexual_abuse_survivor_how_do_i_get_okay_being_intimate_again http://w...

I can imagine it feels so much better not to be keeping this bottled up! Obviously it's completely up to you what you do and don't feel comfortable sharing with your therapist, but I will say that it's a therapist's job to hear about whatever their client needs help with, and a decent therapist shou...

PurpleBerry, you're so welcome. Like Emma said, we're very happy to talk with you further. It's part of what we're here for :) It's true that in-person support is often the most helpful, but we do know very well that sometimes there are barriers in the way or it's just too big a step to start with. ...

A new In Your Own Words piece, from Cassandra: One of the hard things about growing up on suburban Long Island and being the awkward “new girl” at my elementary schools was the endless barrage of taunting I received. I was socially awkward: singing songs I invented in the hallways, drawing and illus...

Thanks, and we're so happy you find it helpful! Noone else is hurt by an idea or a thought we have in our minds. We're allowed to keep our minds as a private space. I'm a big, big fan of openness and honesty; the thing is, even complete openness and honesty doesn't require us to share every thought ...

Hi kawani! You're taken out of the newly registered group, so you're good to go with posting access to all the boards

No, that wouldn't cause the tilt. Many penises tilt a little in one direction or another, and it's a completely natural variation that can't be changed and is nothing to be concerned about. We have more information about masturation on the main site. Have you seen those pieces yet, and if you haven'...

Welcome to the boards, marmalade! Yep, you're in the right place :) I just want to make sure that we understand you correctly. When you say you want to be a gay male, are you talking about multiple areas of your life, or are you meaning specifically in sexual situations? It's also perfectly ok if yo...

Hi, PurpleBerry, and welcome to the boards. You absolutely will be able to move past the abuse. As much as I wish there were one, though, there tends not to be an immediate solution; instead, there's a process of processing what happened and healing from it. Have you already come across information ...

There's some UK-specific information from Brook on CPCs, if anyone wants it: http://www.brook.org.uk/images/brook/professionals/documents/page_content/EFC/CPCreport/crisis_preg_centres_rept_10.2.14-2hiFINAL.pdf I think they're scary, too. I remember being in my late teens and looking in the local ph...

Welcome to the boards, catpaw!

I hope it's ok if I start one step back from what you actually asked. I very much hear that you're feeling guilty, but I'm not sure whether having this fantasy is feeling unpleasant or disturbing to you or if you think you're doing something wrong by having it?

I think the best first thing to do is to tell him, politely but clearly, to stop messaging you or otherwise contacting you. That means you will have made your wishes and position very clear, and you can know for sure that He knows your wishes and position, too. Keep a copy of that message, and keep ...

As Mo said, we really can't know. While the lips can be involved with some sexual-health related things, they're very much a part of general health. As we don't work in general health here, it'd be very poor service to you and unprofessional of us if we were to make any suggestions. Again, any time ...

kabith: Keda's correct that Heather is on sabbatical, but she will be having occasional check-ins with the volunteers during that time, and especially as this was something the two of you were discussing before she went on sabbatical, we'll ask her if she heard anything back for you during the next ...

For those of you with a professional or personal interest in learning more about abortion care and its public health context, you might be interested in this course: https://www.coursera.org/course/abortion About the Course Abortion is a common experience for reproductive-aged women around the world...

New advice column from Heather: chubbychickpea asks: My partner and I have been dating for over a year now and have just begun to hit some rough patches. We used to have a lot of (what I thought was) really great sex. Then one day he told me that all that sex had been only mediocre for him. I was m...

Sometimes, you ask us how we worked out the percentages that we give you in our The Buddy System: Effectiveness Rates for Backing Up Your Birth Control With a Second Method article for the effectiveness of two contraceptive methods used together. That's fair enough, as we make clear that those dual-...

Trying to explain a bit for Heather and anyone else puzzled: "There's no such thing as a free lunch". That's a fairly well-known phrase in Britain - is it elsewhere, too? And I think that's the point: the "free lunch" you're getting Isn't free. You will pay for it, with something...

You're welcome!