Sam- I can't reccomend whether you tell him or not but I can tell you that I had cervical cancer. First of all cervical cancer is mostly caused by hpv but not always. second, this is something that you boyfriend could have been carrying around with him for many years so stop completely blaming yourself. Everyone carries hpv at one point in their life. It's usually on the skin. This includes men, women and children. Experts now believe it's something that can lie dormant for years before it becomes active. I was affected at the age of 32. I had been married at 18 and have always been faithful. I'm sure my husband was also faithful. I have no reason to doubt that. I went like a good soldier every year for a pap. So one day I gat a call at work from my gyn and was told I had an "abnormal" result, or in other words a stage one. So I went for a biopsy. a month later it was still the same. I also had the area frozen. Six weeks later (and I'm not trying to frighten you here) it had gone from a slight abnormality to a stage 3 cancer. Mind you , this only happens to about 5% of women. I ended up with a hysterectomy 4 weeks later. It was a mind blowing experience knowing that I was only 32 and couldn't have any more children. I also felt dirty and ashamed as I had been very sexually active at an early age. However I had a good doc who assured me that this was something I could have been carrying, or my husband could have been carrying. It does not always come in the form of an STD. You could have picked up the hpv from any surface, or from someone's hands that had come into contact with it.

So please stop beating yourself up. Please remember that this is a VIRUS. And you should be going to you gyn for a pap every 3 months for the next 2 years for re-checks.

If you do decide to tell your boyfriend present him with the facts about this disease.

Good luck and take care of yourself!