Dating Sites Find Niche in STD Community

By YourTango Admin posted Feb 28th 2007 12:36PM

From CNN.com
By Elizabeth Cohen

When John got divorced after 12 years of marriage, he took a deep breath and launched into the dating scene.

"And wham, with my very first girlfriend, I caught herpes," he says. "You feel betrayed and all of a sudden separated from the rest of the world. I thought at the time that the girl who gave it to me and I were the only people in the world who had it."

But John and his date are far from alone. And the growing number of people in similar situations has created a new industry: Internet dating sites just for people with STD's. From stdmatch.net to datingwithherpes.com, Web sites abound for the infected who want to date the infected.

Tango’s Take
Got the Herp? Still like dinner, dating, dancing and doing it? Well, you are in luck. By some reckoning, one in four adult Americans has contracted a STD of some kind. While old VD standbys Gonorrhea (affectionately dubbed ‘the clap’) and Chlamydia can be treated with an intense dose of antibiotics, some diseases are lifetime problems. At this point, Herpes, Hepatitis, HPV and HIV cannot be cured; they can be treated and controlled. So a reasonable person, not interested in unduly inflaming the junk of a new partner, can seek out individuals with the same condition. According to CNN, there are dating/ social events in 40 US cities for individuals with the same condition to meet, date and NOT communicate their affliction to unsuspecting partners.
Check out the CDC for more information on STDs.