How many people have you slept with?

Image © Irina Chirkova - Fotolia.com

Wed 23 September 2009

Indirectly speaking, more than you think!

The average British man or woman has indirectly slept with more than 2.8 million (yes million!) people, according to new figures released today.

A new online calculator launched today by Lloyds Pharmacy allows people to work out the number of sexual partners they have indirectly come into contact with.

As the average British man claims to have had nine sexual partners, and the average British woman 6.3, this amounts to an overall average for both sexes of 7.65.

By entering the age of each of your partners, the calculator searches its database of more than 6,000 adults to work out how many previous sexual partners people within that age range have had, on average.

It then repeats this process for five further 'generations' of partner, giving an overall total.

Based on the six degrees of separation theory by Frigyes Karinthy, which states that no one is more than six steps removed from another, the "Sex Degrees of Separation" online calculator has been developed to help people understand the risks of unprotected sex.

Claire Kerr, head of sexual health at Lloyds Pharmacy, said: "When we sleep with someone, we are, in effect, not only sleeping with them, but also their previous partners and their partner's previous partners and so on. It's important that people understand how exposed they are to sexually transmitted infections and take appropriate precautions including using condoms and getting themselves checked out where appropriate.

"A simple sexual health check will give both partners in a relationship peace of mind. The majority of STIs are easy to rectify, but if left untreated, the long term implications can be very serious."

The calculator is at www.lloydspharmacy.com/sexdegrees