What I Wish More People Knew About STIs

July 30, 2021.Reading time 6 minutes.

A woman with red fingernails holds up a condom.

Most people in your life have an STI, they just don’t talk about it in casual conversation.

Getting Herpes Made My Sex Life Better

May 18, 2021.Reading time 10 minutes.

Disclosing your STI lets your partner know that they can trust you. You’ll be amazed by what they might tell you once that trust is established.

Introducing “LIFE RUINER,” A Micro-Memoir About Herpes and Abusive Relationships

December 21, 2020.Reading time 9 minutes.

While I’ve alluded to the less than ideal circumstances surrounding my herpes diagnosis, I’ve never told the story from start to finish.

ASK ELLA: Are Herpes Jokes Ever Funny?

November 8, 2020.Reading time 13 minutes.

Why is SNL still writing sketches about a nightmare ex-boyfriend who takes “fistfuls of Valtrex just to get out of bed in the morning”?

How Getting Herpes Prepared Me For The COVID-19 Pandemic

November 2, 2020.Reading time 17 minutes.

Viruses do not care who we are. Viruses do not exist to exact karmic punishment. They are not agents of destiny or markers of character. They are not concerned with our petty human stories about who matters and who doesn’t. To COVID-19, we are just bodies.

ASK ELLA: Should I Date Someone with Herpes?

June 25, 2020.Reading time 10 minutes.

Whatever you decide, I hope you treat your “someone” with the respect and thoughtfulness you’re showing now as you learn about their virus.

Herpes And Shame, Six Years Later

March 14, 2019.Reading time 16 minutes.

Healing isn’t fun or narratively appealing: it’s a whole lot of pulling off scabs and dissecting long broken bones that didn’t set properly. It’s hard.