An Untreated Infection Becomes the Test of a Partner’s Care

In a personal essay, Olivia Hunt recounts dating an older, confident partner who tests positive for Ureaplasma but refuses antibiotics, choosing holistic remedies instead. After she’s spent years battling the infection herself—misdiagnosed and treated with the wrong antibiotics—she realizes his stance risks her health and others. She ends the relationship and uses Ureaplasma as a litmus test for whether a partner will prioritize her well-being, highlighting how health must be treated as mutual in dating.