I’m starting university this spring and am considering joining a dating club.

As for the risk of pregnancy, the pill is one option, but depending on your body, it can make you feel extremely nauseous. Condoms can prevent pregnancy to a certain extent, so unless you’re particularly worried, I don’t think you need to go that far. Also, I think it’s difficult to reduce the risk of STIs to zero. Condoms offer some protection against gonorrhea and chlamydia, but infections such as genital warts can be transmitted through mucous-membrane contact, so there will inevitably be areas that condoms can’t fully protect. Men who regularly have unprotected sex are more likely to have an STI, so it’s probably safest to avoid having sex with men who want to do it without a condom. Personally, I don’t receive oral sex, and I avoid having sex with women who say they’re fine with doing it without protection. That said, cunnilingus does carry some risk of infection, but I don’t go as far as using plastic wrap to reduce the risk to zero. Incidentally, it’s not necessarily that people you meet in places like this are more likely to have an STI. The woman I was seeing until recently told me that her first boyfriend had given her an STI, after all…

The risk is higher than dating just one boyfriend, but probably lower than working in the sex industry. That said, you could catch an STI from your very first papa, or stay healthy no matter how many people you have an adult relationship with. It’s largely a matter of luck. Other than HIV/AIDS, most STIs can be treated if detected early, so I recommend accepting a certain level of risk, following Taro’s advice, and also finding a clinic that can provide test results and medication quickly. And don’t forget the pill. Condoms can leak or tear, too.

As you point out, the immediate risks are sexually transmitted infections and pregnancy. Let me share what I know and what I’ve experienced. First, regarding the rate of STIs, it’s practically impossible to conduct an accurate survey within the club. However, I believe the chances are higher than the figures often seen on this message board. The reason is that, although I haven’t made a particularly large number of offers, a certain number of female members have confessed—or perhaps admitted—that they’ve had an STI before. There were five of them. My sample size is around 150 women, so the chance of meeting someone with a history of an STI would be approximately 3%. Since some women may conceal that history, the actual figure could be somewhat higher. How you interpret that number is up to you. Incidentally, I believe only official STI statistics have a certain degree of reliability. The number of syphilis cases reached a record high for two consecutive years, the year before last and last year. As for the possibility of pregnancy, three women had previously become pregnant with a papa’s child, which would be 2% based on the same 기준 I used above. Just as with STIs, my unfounded impression is that the actual figure may be somewhat higher.

It probably depends on what precautions you take and how you manage the risks, but I’ll answer based on what I’ve heard and seen. Among women who usually have around five to ten papas (male supporters), continue meeting new men when they receive offers, and sometimes have unprotected sex, it seems they only contract an STI once every few years. One had throat chlamydia, another had gonorrhea, and another had vaginal chlamydia. I’m not including Candida, since it’s apparently often caused by an overgrowth of bacteria that are normally present in the body. The throat chlamydia was apparently passed on during oral sex by a papa who used a condom during penetration. The woman who contracted gonorrhea later reported that she likely got it from a foreign casual partner. College women who are more sexually active seem to contract STIs more frequently than this, so I’d say the risk is relatively low. I’ve never heard of anyone becoming pregnant. I assume that’s because they’re all taking low-dose birth-control pills. There was one woman who couldn’t take the pill due to her constitution and became pregnant, but she said she wanted a child and had lied to her casual partner so he would ejaculate inside her, so I’m not counting that case. For precautions, see Taro’s answer.

First, regarding not having conventionally attractive features, if your looks are at least above a certain level, you could say the risk is almost zero. Then, if things progress to an adult relationship (intimate), I think the following precautions should be enough: 1. Avoid unprotected penetration 2. Avoid unprotected oral sex 3. Don’t meet too many people; stick with one person for a longer period 4. Avoid anyone who seems to be seeing many people at the same time 5. Get tested regularly (once a month while you’re receiving lots of offers) Taro