[Question #9058] What are the possibilities?

36 months ago

So my girlfriend got pregnant around a time where she was having sexual contact with other guys. She claims to have gotten both gonorrhea and chlamydia from a blowjob she gave to a guy. The strange thing is that she only tested positive for gonorrhea in her throat. It was negative for Chlamydia in her throat. She ended up only being positive for Chlamydia in the vaginal area but not Gonorrhea. She claims that she only gave this guy a blowjob. It doesn’t seem realistic to me that Chlamydia would be in the throat and not the vagina if she only gave him oral sex. What are the possibilities of this off one encounter? I don’t know if I should be worried about this being my baby or not, or if there was possibly an entire other guy in this situation who vaginal intercourse with her. She claims I’m the only guy she has had vaginal intercourse with in the past year, and she had a negative Gonorrhea and Chlamydia test in May. Would you think she would have been having vaginal intercourse of these facts? Do you think she could be telling the truth? If so, what are the odds of it being negative in the throat and positive in the vaginal area after her only giving someone a blow job? Thank you.

H. Hunter Handsfield, MD

36 months ago

Welcome to the forum. Thanks for your question.

You are exactly right with "It doesn't seem realistic...." Performing oral sex on someone can result in an STI of the throat, but not the genital area. Your gf acquired her throat gonorrhea by performing oral sex on an infected person. It isn't surprising that her throat chlamydia test is negative: chlamydia does not easily infect the throat; even after oral exposure, most people do not catch chlamydia.

But that episode of oral sex could not have resulted in her positive genital (vaginal) chlamydial infection. She caught that from someone else; or she also had vaginal sex with that person. Possibly you are the source of her chlamydia: men can carry chlamydia for weeks or months without symptoms, so perhaps you have had it without knowing. You should be tested for both chlamydia and gonorrhea, and you also need to be treated for both, even if you test negative.

I have no way to know or even guess who is the father of the baby. I'm not an expert in that area, and in any case you don't give the dates of when she had sex with whom, how long she has been pregnant, etc. Based on what you say, it sounds like you may not be the father. There may be may be more than one other possibility, since she has recently had sex with "other guys" (plural). The only way to know is for her (or perhaps the two of you together) to discuss with the clinic or doctor who will manage her pregnancy. Of course she will have to be absolutely honest about who she had sex with and when.

I hope these comments are helpful. Let me know if anything isn't clear.

HHH, MD

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