Can I Still Have Sex if I'm HIV Positive? In Short, Yes

Testing HIV positive at a young age is daunting. Many think it'll prevent them from finding love or having sex. But it's possible to live a sexually active life with HIV — as long as you exercise caution and full disclosure with your partner.

"People living with HIV fall in love, have sex, have relationships, marry, have children — all the things that people who don't have HIV do too," HIV/AIDS home-based care organization AVERT wrote on its site. "It's also completely possible to do all of these things without passing HIV on to someone else."

Read more: I Was Diagnosed With HIV — Now What? Here Are the Recommended First Steps

HIV is spread through blood or sexual fluid, according to the AIDS InfoNet. It's important to use condoms (even during oral sex), ART (antiretroviral therapy) and engage in "less risky sexual behaviors," according to AIDS.gov. Using condoms is one of the most effective ways to prevent spreading HIV, according to AVERT. 

It's important to tell your partner if you're HIV positive before engaging in any sexual activity. "It's a good idea to talk to your partner about these things before you have sex, if you can, so that you can share the responsibility for having safer sex," AVERT states on their website, going on to note, "If your partner knows about HIV, it can make it easier to talk about using condoms."