Am I really ready?

It might be hard to tell. Peer pressure, fear of losing someone if you don’t have sex with them, hormones, lust, and plain old curiosity could be influencing you. Talk about it with your partner. Make sure you feel safe and respected. Talk about you feel, how far you want to go. If one of you isn’t into it then it’s not on.  If you’re both really sure you want to, then talk about using condoms and contraception and make an appointment to see your doctor or Family Planning. You don’t want to be worrying about pregnancy or sexually transmissible infections.

Love or Lust? 

It might be hard to tell the difference.  Do you talk to each other much? Or do you spend all your time pashing or making out?  If all you do is make out and don’t have a lot to say to each other then it is probably just lust.  Sex can bring you closer, but if you’re not very close to begin with it probably won’t make much difference. If you’re thinking about having sex then be honest with yourself about why.

I just want to get it out of the way and lose my virginity

You probably get the impression everyone is doing it.  But don’t always believe what you hear!  It’s really important that you choose when is the right time for you, and that you have sex for all the right reasons. The first time is a once only experience and it’ll be heaps better if you really care about your partner and look after yourself.  Don’t rush in and end up disappointed with yourself or the sex you have. If you need to get drunk to do it then you probably don’t really want to be doing it.

Am I giving in to pressure?  

In your teens there is a lot of pressure to partner off and have a boy /girlfriend.

Its hard if your mates are all seeing someone & talking about sex whether they are being honest or not. It doesn’t mean there’s something wrong with you. Different people have relationships at different ages.

You don’t have to have sex if someone is pressuring you. Don’t be pushed into doing something you don’t want.