I've had genital herpes since I was 16. I'm not sure how I got it, whether it was given to me from someone who had a cold sore their mouth and performed orally or from someone who had it on their genitals and transferred the virus through intercourse. Chances are, I won't ever know that, because the man who gave it to me (and there could have only been one man) dissapeared as soon as he found out I was suddenly getting sick shortly after he had forced himself on me one heated night. Now that I'm 19, I suppose that's the least of my concerns. Now, Im in a serious, long-term relationship (and yes my boyfriend is aware of my virus and has still chosen to sleep with me) and I've already gotten pregnant once, last spring, but I ended up miscarrying. I really want to have children and I might already have endometriosis (not an std) and I'm wondering if anyone knows if having herpes affects your chances of becoming pregnant. I also heard that when you have herpes, you have to give birth through a C-section to avoid passing on the virus from your genitals to the baby. I've heard if the baby does contract it while being born, it can cause retardation and even death. Anyone know anything about all this?

I've had genital herpes since I was 16. I'm not sure how I got it, whether it was given to me from someone who had a cold sore their mouth and performed orally or from someone who had it on their genitals and transferred the virus through intercourse. Chances are, I won't ever know that, because the man who gave it to me (and there could have only been one man) dissapeared as soon as he found out I was suddenly getting sick shortly after he had forced himself on me one heated night. Now that I'm 19, I suppose that's the least of my concerns. Now, Im in a serious, long-term relationship (and yes my boyfriend is aware of my virus and has still chosen to sleep with me) and I've already gotten pregnant once, last spring, but I ended up miscarrying. I really want to have children and I might already have endometriosis (not an std) and I'm wondering if anyone knows if having herpes affects your chances of becoming pregnant. I also heard that when you have herpes, you have to give birth through a C-section to avoid passing on the virus from your genitals to the baby. I've heard if the baby does contract it while being born, it can cause retardation and even death. Anyone know anything about all this?
Herpes does not affect your chances of having children. Endometriosis can possibly make it difficult, but I'm sure you already know that.
As far as the C-section, that's only if you're having an OB when you're ready to deliver. Also, the biggest risk is when you have your primary OB while you're pregnant. Basically your body wont have built up antibodies yet so as to pass them on to your baby, which makes the baby vulnerable.
The truth is that with so many people having Herpes and not knowing, that women deliver normally all the time and dont even know their H status.
Backpacker has had 4 children and only the 3rd child was C-section becuase she had her primary while she was pregnant (I believe) and I think was having an OB when it was time to deliver. Hopefully she'll pipe in here and correct me if I'm wrong.

I'm piping in, but not correcting you! You've got a good memory, mra. I had my primary at 8 1/2 months with my third child. He decided to come out a few days too early, so I had to have a Caesarean. This was a blow to me, because I'm a natural homebirth gal. But I had my next boy at home, no problem. The midwives did have as their backup dr the best ob/gyn in the DC area, so I had no worries about the area of the incision opening.

My boy is now 13 and perfectly normal (well...he's kinda goofy, but that's due to a good sense of humor, not to retardation!) My fourth boy is also very healthy. And, by the way, he was unplanned...believe me, herpes does not interfere with fertility! So be careful!

I'm piping in, but not correcting you! You've got a good memory, mra. I had my primary at 8 1/2 months with my third child. He decided to come out a few days too early, so I had to have a Caesarean. This was a blow to me, because I'm a natural homebirth gal. But I had my next boy at home, no problem. The midwives did have as their backup dr the best ob/gyn in the DC area, so I had no worries about the area of the incision opening.

My boy is now 13 and perfectly normal (well...he's kinda goofy, but that's due to a good sense of humor, not to retardation!) My fourth boy is also very healthy. And, by the way, he was unplanned...believe me, herpes does not interfere with fertility! So be careful!

Hey backpacker,

I've seen in a couple of your posts where you talk about having your primary with your 3rd born, but I'm just trying to clarify this a little. I'm assuming that you mean you had *some* of the symptons on-and-off before...but you got a full-blown (primary) case at 8 1/2 months with your 3rd born??? Is this right?? For how long did you know you were "infected" before you actually got the primary? (assuming you knew you were "infected" by having only minor symptoms before the primary came, or no symptoms at all??)

The reason I ask is cause Im wondering when/if I can still get a "primary" even though its been 6 months since I could have been infected.

No, I had no symptoms; I don't think I had it at all until a month or so before my primary. But that's just supposition. Who knows? I may have had it for 10 years! I was sexually active in high school and college. As far as I know, I wasn't exposed to it then. My husband was the only person who I slept with that I knew had herpes. But he did not have ob's very often, and I never knew of a time I was exposed.