I have had genital HSV1 for about 4 years. I am now in a new relationship with my boyfriend who has had oral HSV1 since childhood. Is it possible for him to get genital HSV1? Or because he already has HSV1 in his system does that mean he will not contract a new infection on his genitals?

In case it's helpful, here's more context on my HSV1 infection - I had an initial outbreak ~4 years ago. For the two years following I had 1-2 very small outbreaks per year. I was in a relationship at the time, but upon becoming single and re-entering the dating world I began taking 500mg daily Valtrex to reduce transmission.  I have been taking daily Valtrex for ~2years and have not had an outbreak since. 

We are just trying to understand the risk of us having unprotected sex and hoping that because my boyfriend already has HSV1 orally he will not be infected on his genitals. Based on the the video "Understanding Herpes" with Hunter Handsfield it sounds like transmission is highly unlikely, but we want to ensure that is the case.

Thank you!

The good news is that it is extremely unlikely, since your partner also has HSV 1, that he would get HSV 1 in a new location on his body.  I have seen this happen only once in 35 years of practice and heard about it from an online patient once.  If I were in your situation, I wouldn't give this another thought.  I hope this is helpful!

Terri