As I turned 40, my biggest concern was whether I could still be a mom and whether I would be able to conceive a healthy child. All the information I read focused on the brutal way fertility is reduced from that age, the increased risks of having a baby with a health problem, and the…
Navigating the ups and downs of a relationship can be a complicated — and maybe a little messy — process. We all move through the stages of love differently. Many of us go through a honeymoon phase that later makes us question whether things are working out the way we want. Sometimes, it’s easy to…
Like gender identity, discovering your sexual orientation begins with an internal awareness of attraction. How you find comfort in expressing or acting on your sexual orientation varies based on your experiences and cultural upbringing. “Sexual attraction is internally driven,” says pediatric psychologist Vanessa K. Jensen, PsyD, ABPP. “For some individuals, it is very clear who…
There’s so much diversity in how we identify ourselves and the way we express love for one another. Just as there are different kinds of love, we can become sexually and romantically attracted to our partners in different ways (if we experience sexual or romantic attraction at all). The relationship we have with our own…
If you’re considering anal sex for the first time, you’re not alone. Though it may have once been taboo, it’s become more widely accepted over the last few decades. And if you think anal sex only involves penetration by a penis, you’d be wrong: Anal sex can include fingers, tongues and accessories, too. It can…
When you first met, things were fun. You laughed at each other’s jokes, finished each other’s sentences and ate pasta “Lady and the Tramp” style at every Italian restaurant in town. But the weeks/months/years have passed and it’s clear — the honeymoon phase is over and it’s not going to work. When it’s time to…
At last, your love has come along. Every day is filled with discovery and excitement as you get more and more entangled with your partner and in each other’s lives. Your heart races when you’re together and aches when they’re not around. Your whole world could flip upside down on its head and yet everything…
Like hunger, thirst, sleep and sex, love is essential for human survival. It can often feel so primal and mysterious that it may be hard for some of us to define. For thousands of years, we’ve tried to understand how love works by studying it and writing about it in songs and poetry. We’ve seen…