A friend of mine just had to tell her boyfriend she has it, and he's going through the same reaction as you. She's torn apart over it, even though she hasn't had an outbreak in over 6 months. My neighbour downstairs has/had a high-risk strain of it and had to go through leep therary, ablasion and biopsies after developing pre-cancerous cells. I have it... I just haven't had to tell anybody yet. I've developed a potential relationship with a guy though, and if it goes anywhere I have to do the same and it terrifies me because it freaks people out. There's most definitely a stigma attached to this virus JUST BECAUSE you contract it through sex, but that's about the worst part of having it to me. Most of my friends have it or have had it. So you can see how common this is.

It's a personal choice. If you really love her though, you need to look at it this way: there are worse things she could have. Most of us out there are walking around with this infection (myself included), so it's not like it's rare. Even you, if you were sexually active before you met her, could be carrying it and not even know. Not everyone develops symptoms.

Besides, while it's true that you will always be carrying the virus, most people will become immune to it after having it for about a year. I'd suggest reading up on it and reading what other people have to say about it before making a decision, though. It's really not as horrible as people make it out to be. It's controllable if you stay on your game.