There are plenty of risks involved if you choose to have sex at an early age. Nina lost her virginity when she was young and she’s shared her story with us. If you’re thinking you might be ready to have sex with your partner, it’s good to know other girls’ experiences too!

I am Nina and my first sexual encounter happened when I was only 16. My first boyfriend was a guy from our neighborhood. After 3 months of being together he persuaded me to have sex with him.

I truly knew back then that I wasn’t ready to have sex, but since I wanted to prove myself to him, I agreed anyway. The sad thing is, after what happened between us, he became distant. He was no longer answering my texts, and he suddenly didn’t want to meet with me anymore. I felt really used.

I began to start thinking about the reasons I first had sex, and reflected on how this made me feel. After having sex, I felt like I lost control of my own body. I started to feel a little down, a sense of regret started to creep in, and I knew I needed to speak to someone before this feeling inside me got any worse. My advice is always make sure you are ready and don’t do anything you aren’t comfortable with.

I feared that I might completely lose grip on my studies, so I finally spoke to my big sister to let her know what happened. She is someone I can really trust and feel comfortable around. She told me not be too hard on myself and helped me realise that having sexual encounters at a young age entails a lot of risks, like feeling anxiety, regret, anger or guilt.

There are lots of emotions involved when you think about having sex so it is important you are aware of them, they aren’t all good ones! Most importantly, only have sex when you and your partner have had a conversation and you both feel ready to take the next step.