SHOULD I FORGIVE MY CHEATING BOYFRIEND?

Dear Mahogany,
I’m broken as I write this. I have been dating my boyfriend for seven months now but recently I just caught him cheating on me. This is the first time I would catch him but I’ve always had my suspicions. Some months back I treated myself of an infection which I suspected to be a toilet infection even though I know I rarely use any kind of toilet.
What confirmed my suspicions was when I had to treat myself of an infection again and the message he sent to the girl telling her to take drugs to treat her infection since he doesn’t like using condoms. I’m confused and betrayed.
Tola, 23.

Dear Tola,
I appreciate you reaching out to us and we hope we can provide solace to you in this turbulent time. Relationships are all about sacrifices and commitment and I believe a person not ready to commit should not rush into a relationship.
I’m sorry about your infection and hope you are taking the necessary drugs to treat it lest it comes back to create any form of damage to your system.
Everybody deserves to be treated with love and respect in their relationship, and respect includes boundaries and putting your partner’s sexual health into consideration. Forgiveness is one of the key ingredients to a successful relationship but it only works best when the partner involved is ready to abandon old ways and genuinely embrace change.
I suggest you talk about what happened with your partner, but staying away for some time can help you see things objectively, look at other scenarios, what is the worst that can happen staying in that relationship. Is your boyfriend an incessant cheat, is he truly sorry for his actions, are you ready to take back a guy who has infected you on more than one occasion he was fully aware of and isn’t ready to stop. An affair is one thing, but cheating constantly without a care in the world and spreading infections may not be a situation to reconsider.
Your physical, mental and sexual health are not factors to be toyed with. Your health should always come first, imagine a worst case scenario and picture the damage that might have been caused to your body system. Your sexual health should be foremost on your mind and your partner should always put that into consideration.
You are a dose of beauty and sexiness and you deserve the best, remember protection is not meant for strangers alone, always use a form of protection when having sex despite your sexual relationship with the person.
We love you and we are here to support your decision.
Love, Mahogany.