Let’s talk about how to stay safe and prevent sexually transmitted infections (STIs), also known as sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). We discuss methods for safe sex, relatable accounts of what it’s like to navigate the healthcare system with an STI, shaking off stigma, being open and feeling safe with partners, and more.

Tamar and Cody of RHEP’s Youth Advisory Board are joined by Lonnell Schuler, Black Women for Wellness, program lead for Get Smart B4U Get Sexy. If you have any questions about this critical information, be sure to check out these useful resources:

Content Advisory: The stories we are sharing sometimes touch on different kinds of trauma, please take care of yourself while you listen.

Resources:

• About Condoms (including video for how to put on a condom), Planned Parenthood
• Birth Control, Condom, Bedsider
• Birth Control, Internal Condom, Bedsider
• About Dental Dams, Planned Parenthood
• What is PrEP? Planned Parenthood
• What is PEP? Planned Parenthood
• Black Women for Wellness: an organization committed to advancing the health and well-being of Black women & girls through education, empowerment and advocacy
• TeenSource: Teen health resources and information on STI's, Birth Control and free health clinics and health resources near you
• APLA Health: providing world-class LGBTQ+ empowering healthcare, HIV specialty care, food, housing and other essential support services
• DontThinkKnow.org: a way to get STI testing from home

Host:

Tamar, Youth Advisory Board Member

Participants:

Cody, Youth Advisory Board Member

Lonnell Schuler, Black Women for Wellness, program lead for Get Smart B4U Get Sexy

About Self-Taught: Former Foster Youth on Sex, Health, and Life:

Self-Taught: Former Foster Youth on Sex, Health, and Life is a podcast from foster youth, for foster youth, with unfiltered conversations about puberty, relationships, sexual health, identity, and much more that we wish were part of our upbringing. It is hosted by the youth advisory board of the Reproductive Health Equity Project at the National Center for Youth Law.

Self-Taught: Former Foster Youth on Sex, Health, and Life is supported through a grant to the National Center for Youth Law from the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation. We are very grateful for their support. Contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the Hilton Foundation.

Self-Taught: Former Foster Youth on Sex, Health, and Life is produced in California. Laws, policies and programs discussed in this episode may be specific to California.

Watch our episodes at https://rhep.info/self-taught.

Learn more about the podcast and the Reproductive Health Equity Project at www.fosterreprohealth.org

Email us with questions, comments, and feedback at email@fosterreprohealth.org.