“In 2016, I was a 22-year-old with no health insurance and the only place that would take me without extremely high fees for medical care was Planned Parenthood. I was not there for HIV testing, but they offered it to me anyway, for free. I never expected when they called me back a week later that anything was wrong, but my results came back positive for HIV.
Naturally I was shocked. I was diagnosed in a different state than the state I was living in at the time, so it took a few weeks before I could get into treatment. I didn’t tell anyone about my diagnosis because I was worried about what they might think of me. At the same time, I was living in constant fear of what my life with HIV would look like. When I finally got back home to Florida and met with my doctor for the first time to go over my numbers he said “Your viral load isn’t great but it’s not bad. It’s good that you found out when you did because we can fix this.” And almost immediately, the weight of all my fears had lifted.
I have a normal life. I am a graduate student. I have a beautiful man who loves me. I can still have children. I can travel. I can do any and everything I had planned for myself before I was diagnosed with HIV. People often think that HIV is life-threatening. But the threat is not in having the disease — it’s in not knowing you have the disease. Thanks to Planned Parenthood, I know, and that is how Planned Parenthood saved my life."
— Jordyn, Las Vegas, NV
Getting tested is the only way to know for sure if you have HIV, and it’s one of the best ways to keep yourself and your partners healthy. HIV tests are usually quick and painless — most of the time, all you have to do is rub your cheek with a cotton swab.
The best part about HIV testing? Getting tested and knowing your status can really put your mind at ease, no matter the results. If you do find out you have HIV, you’ll be able to get the information you need to start treatment. There’s no cure for HIV, but there are medicines you can take to help you stay healthy and lower (or even stop) your chance of passing HIV to others.
Having HIV does not make you “dirty” or a bad person, and it doesn’t mean your life is over. People living with HIV can be in relationships, have sex, and live full, healthy, happy lives with the right treatment and the support of friends and family.
Lots of places offer free or low-cost HIV testing, like your local Planned Parenthood health center.
I’m going to Planned Parenthood for my yearly exam today, which reminded me of the happenings of last year. In the interest of oversharing, I thought I’d let you in on that too.
So, you know, you’re supposed to like, get naked and put on the paper vest and put the paper blanket over your lap, right?
Uhhhhhh well somewhere in the process of this, I was like, “instructions unclear. Tried to wear paper vest as pants.”
Which didn’t work. I wound up accidentally tearing the thing in half in my attempt to make something pants that clearly wasn’t pants. Then in my haste to fix my egregious errors, I managed to rip the paper blanket too, so when the doctor comes in I’m basically just clutching scraps of paper to my naked body and trying to explain myself.
They also have these bowls of condoms out, right? But most of them are in places where people are gonna see you if you take them. So I’ll be checking into my appointment like, “Condom? No I couldn’t possibly. Haha not me. I am pure.”
Cut to me in the bathroom stuffing condoms in my purse cuz they got a drawer full of them in there. Because, I mean, hey, if a miracle happens, you gotta be prepared.
But we got Planned Parenthood themed chapstick and a year’s worth of good ol’ birth control, so all in all a good trip.
We’ve all had a paper robe mishap, amiright? But ya get through it and your doctor won’t judge, they’ve seen everything!
“Planned Parenthood gave two young struggling people the ability to do the thing that is in their name: We got to plan parenthood. When we could barely care for ourselves, much less a newborn, we were able to choose the time when we brought a child into our lives. Planned Parenthood allowed my wife to make the decisions she needed to make in order to control her body and her health, and maintain her life and her future. And for that, I will be eternally grateful.”
I made the choice to be a mother because Planned Parenthood helped me feel like everything was going to be okay and that my health mattered. I can’t imagine my life without my perfect boy, and I can’t imagine a world without the caring folks at Planned Parenthood who take care of women like me every day.
Huge shout-out to plannedparenthood for their staff today who patiently talked to me about all my birth control options and helped me decide which one I wanted to go with (we decided on the pill for now). The staff was amazing and the process was so easy. I’d never been to a Planned Parenthood before and wasn’t sure what to expect but everything was fantastic and I learned so much! Thanks, Planned Parenthood!
Birth control helped me manage the symptoms of my polycystic ovary syndrome. This included weight gain, bad cramps, irregular and heavy periods, bad acne, and many other things. I was 13 when I was diagnosed, and have been on it since.
Keep sharing your birth control stories using #BirthControlHelpedMe!
I know I’ve told this story before, but my abusive ex refused to let me take birth control. I was on the pill until he found them in my purse.
I went to the Student Health Center—they were completely unhelpful, choosing to lecture me about the importance of safe sex (recommending condoms) instead of actually listening to my problem.
Then I went to Planned Parenthood. The Nurse Practitioner took one look at my fading bruises and stopped the exam. She called in the doctor. The doctor came in and simply asked me: “Are you ready to leave him?” When I denied that I was being abused, she didn’t argue with me. She just asked me what I needed. I said I need a birth control method that my boyfriend couldn’t detect. She recommended a few options and we decided on Depo.
When I told her that my boyfriend read my emails and listened to my phone messages and was known to follow me, she suggested to do the Depo injections at off hours when the clinic was normally closed. She made a note in my chart and instructed the front desk never to leave messages for me—instead, she programmed her personal cell phone number into my phone under the name “Nora”. She told me she would call me to schedule my appointments; she wouldn’t leave a message, but I should call her back when I was able to.
And that was it. No judgment. No lecture. She walked me to the door and told me to call her day or night if I needed anything. That she lived 5 blocks from campus and would come get me. That I wasn’t alone. That she just wanted me to be safe.
I never called her to come to my rescue. But I have no doubt that she would have come if I had called. She kept me on Depo for a year, giving me those monthly injections in secret, helping me prevent a desperately unwanted pregnancy.
I cannot thank Planned Parenthood enough for the work they do.
