Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think most girls go to the gyn before college. My daughter and friends did.

Not true. You really only need to go once you become sexually active or if you are having some kind of problem. Many girls are not sexually active in high school, believe it or not.

+1

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think most girls go to the gyn before college. My daughter and friends did.

Not true. You really only need to go once you become sexually active or if you are having some kind of problem. Many girls are not sexually active in high school, believe it or not.

My daughter and almost all friends were not sexually active in high school either. They attended a girls' school and only one had a boyfriend and they weren't in the party crowd. However, they wanted to be on BC for college. In some cases in case they started to date, in others because their cycles were irregular. It wasn't a big deal.

Anonymous wrote:Hell no.
I’m not sure why going to college would trigger this…maybe getting engaged or moving in with a partner… but college is for education.

Wrong.

Anonymous wrote:DD is about to go off to college in the fall. She’s never been to a gynecologist but it seems like the right time. To talk safe sex, prevention, maybe get birth control if she wants it (she’s not yet sexually active).

Does this sound right? Is that what you’ve done for your girls?

Yes

It’s an excellent idea. I took my daughter a bit earlier. I wanted her to have experience interacting with a good gyn before she had either a problem or a need. I wanted her to be comfortable with the idea of gynecological care and to have a gyn she felt comfortable approaching or making an appointment with. My daughter didn’t need an internal exam until she was in college, and it was a bit of a scary situation. I was so glad that she’d had the earlier appointments because in an emergent situation she didn’t have the additional fear of suddenly being in a gyn’s office for the first time.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think most girls go to the gyn before college. My daughter and friends did.

Not true. You really only need to go once you become sexually active or if you are having some kind of problem. Many girls are not sexually active in high school, believe it or not.

My DD (17) hasn’t been yet, but I think it’s good practice to normalize an annual visit to the gyn in the late teen years, whether they’re sexually active or not.

My mom never told me about any of this stuff. I went off to college and got a boyfriend, and when my period was late once, I panicked and fell for the “free pregnancy test” offer from one of those awful Christian anti-abortion centers. I really hope to prepare my own daughter better for taking control of her reproductive health.

NP. Wow, you sound like a bigot.

NO! Those places are a scam and purposefully misleading. They’re pro life propaganda disguised as “pregnancy help” whose sole purpose is to strong arm you into not getting an abortion. They lie, they pressure, they are awful.

Yes, please have her go before college, even if not sexually active and has no interest. Ask friends where their girls go, because you want someone who will be good with teens.

Our DD went in HS - feel it was the right choice for her

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think most girls go to the gyn before college. My daughter and friends did.

Not true. You really only need to go once you become sexually active or if you are having some kind of problem. Many girls are not sexually active in high school, believe it or not.

My DD (17) hasn’t been yet, but I think it’s good practice to normalize an annual visit to the gyn in the late teen years, whether they’re sexually active or not.

My mom never told me about any of this stuff. I went off to college and got a boyfriend, and when my period was late once, I panicked and fell for the “free pregnancy test” offer from one of those awful Christian anti-abortion centers. I really hope to prepare my own daughter better for taking control of her reproductive health.

NP. Wow, you sound like a bigot.

I stand by it. My DD is heading off to college this fall and I will absolutely warn her not to fall for the crisis pregnancy center signs or billboards.

First, I will fully educate her about her birth control options, so hopefully she doesn’t find herself having to wonder if she might be pregnant. If she does, I will make sure she knows that she can buy a simple pregnancy test at any drug store, or go to student health at her school. And then she can come to us if she is truly in a crisis. Those centers prey on confused, scared young people whose parents either haven’t educated them at all or who have filled them with shame and fear.

Anonymous wrote:The pediatrician can handle all this.

That’s my thought too. Unless she has an actual gyn problem, her pediatrician/family doctor can (and probably already has) talk about sexual health and birth control options. This is part of a well visit for a teen. They can also prescribe birth control pills. If she wanted an IUD placed, then that would warrant a gyn visit.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think most girls go to the gyn before college. My daughter and friends did.

Not true. You really only need to go once you become sexually active or if you are having some kind of problem. Many girls are not sexually active in high school, believe it or not.

My DD (17) hasn’t been yet, but I think it’s good practice to normalize an annual visit to the gyn in the late teen years, whether they’re sexually active or not.

My mom never told me about any of this stuff. I went off to college and got a boyfriend, and when my period was late once, I panicked and fell for the “free pregnancy test” offer from one of those awful Christian anti-abortion centers. I really hope to prepare my own daughter better for taking control of her reproductive health.

NP. Wow, you sound like a bigot.

Anonymous wrote:The pediatrician can handle all this.

The DD is almost 18. And no, not all pediatricians can handle this stuff. Ours didn’t (and it’s a well known dr group in NOVA often discussed here).

Who is fear mongering taking an almost 18 year old to the gynecologist? Women’s health is super important. It should be normalized and accessible.

At some point you have to transfer from pediatrician to PCP that's for adults. College is an ideal transition.
It might be nice for DD to have her first gyn appointment with a doctor near home, so the first one isn't urgent and her first internal exam is "at home." Otherwise it will be at the college health service or wherever kids at her college go.
At college, she may get a UTI, an abcess, yeast infection, vaginitis EVEN WITHOUT BEING SEXUALLY ACTIVE and she will need to see a gyn there. Not wait until she's home .

Bring it up with your daughter, know it might freak her out, and accept no and let go if she doesn’t want to.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think most girls go to the gyn before college. My daughter and friends did.

Not true. You really only need to go once you become sexually active or if you are having some kind of problem. Many girls are not sexually active in high school, believe it or not.

My DD (17) hasn’t been yet, but I think it’s good practice to normalize an annual visit to the gyn in the late teen years, whether they’re sexually active or not.

My mom never told me about any of this stuff. I went off to college and got a boyfriend, and when my period was late once, I panicked and fell for the “free pregnancy test” offer from one of those awful Christian anti-abortion centers. I really hope to prepare my own daughter better for taking control of her reproductive health.

The pediatrician can handle all this.