"I didn't think I was the type to get chlamydia"

"I was 20 years old and had just broken up with a boyfriend. Shortly afterwards I met a new boyfriend, and we used a condom at first. We wanted to stop using the condom, so we went to the doctor to be checked for venereal diseases. When the doctor said I had chlamydia, I was startled," says Tine, who is now 26 years old.

Tine clearly remembers how strange she felt when she was diagnosed with chlamydia. She had none of the symptoms. Also there was the question of who had infected her? The new boyfriend or ex-boyfriend who might have cheated on her?

Who had infected her?

First she told her new boyfriend. He was shocked. He had a doctor's appointment a week later, but had it moved forward and was tested for all STDs.

Next, Tine called her ex-boyfriend. It was an unpleasant conversation:

"My ex-boyfriend got very angry that I thought he had cheated on me. Afterwards he went to the doctor and was tested negative, so it was my new boyfriend who I had contracted chlamydia from."

Tine had contracted chlamydia from her new boyfriend, even though they had used a condom, because the disease can also be spread through sexual activity other than intercourse. For example, if genitals are rubbed against each other.

Didn't tell the friends

At first, Tine thought it was embarrassing to have contracted a venereal disease. Therefore, she only told the two guys and her mother. Her friends showed nothing.

"If I had got a cyst in my abdomen, I would have told my girlfriends about it. It wouldn't have been my fault. But I felt it was my own fault that I had contracted an STD. It was proof, that I had been irresponsible - although that was not the case at all."

Will be checked regularly

Today, the experience has meant that Tine always uses a condom. Only when she has a steady boyfriend and when they have both been examined for venereal diseases that she leaves the condom. In addition, she is checked for chlamydia every two years.

"I haven't become more paranoid, but I've become aware that STDs can affect me, as well as anyone else."