Each time you choose another partner, your chance of contracting a sexually transmitted disease goes up dramatically.
Your Partners |
Your Exposure |
1 | 1 |
2 | 3 |
3 | 7 |
4 | 15 |
5 | 31 |
6 | 63 |
7 | 27 |
8 | 255 |
9 | 511 |
10 | 1,023 |
11 | 2,047 |
12 | 4,095 |
13 | 8,195 |
14 | 16,383 |
15 | 32,767 |
16 | 65,535 |
“When you have sex with someone,you are having sex with everyone they have had sex with for the last ten years, and everyone they and their partners have had sex with for the last ten years.” C.Everett Koop, M.D., Former U.S. Surgeon General
The only 100% sure way to avoid exposure to sexually transmitted diseases is abstinence.
This chart assumes each person involved has had only as many partners as you have. Each exposure represents the possibility of contracting a serious sexual disease.
For you math students: F(n) = 2n -1 where n is the number of partners