ECTOPIC PREGNANCY: Pregnancy that happens outside the uterus and usually refers to pregnancy occurring in the fallopian tube. An ECTOPIC PREGNANCY may be the result of pelvic inflammatory disease (PID).

EGG: A very small piece that is stored in a female's ovary. It is also called a woman's sex cell. This works like a little envelope with all of the pieces and directions inside of it to make a person. A girl is born with all the EGGS she will ever have. This is about 1-2 million. The ovary pushes out one every month, about two weeks after a woman has her period. An EGG can live only two days after this happens. If a sperm enters the vagina and finds the EGG a woman can become pregnant.

EJACULATION: When semen squirts from a male's penis during an orgasm. Usually only a teaspoon or tablespoon comes out at a time. About 500 million sperm come out with the semen. This can happen when he has sex, when he masturbates or even when he is asleep (wet dream). If a male doesn't EJACULATE during sexual contact, he will not be harmed. A male can EJACULATE with or without having an orgasm. It is not the same as urinating. Urinating and EJACULATION cannot happen at the same time.

ELISA TEST: One test that can look for presence of HIV. This test looks at people's blood to see if it has HIV antibodies. An ELISA test needs up to six months to be effective.

EMBRYO: When a pre-embryo (zygote) grows and gets to be a certain size and sticks itself to the inside of the uterus it becomes an EMBRYO. It takes eight weeks after fertilization for the EMBRYO to grow into a fetus.

ENCEPHALITIS: Swelling of the brain that may be caused by germs or viruses that cause herpes, syphilis, or gonorrhea.

ERECTION: When a penis gets stiff and hard. This happens because blood flows into it. This might happen because someone is sexually excited, but it can also happen at other times. A hard penis will get soft again after ejaculation or orgasm. It could also get soft before these things happen. Slang terms: woody, hard, hard-on, stiffy.

EXPOSURE: Being EXPOSED to a STD means that you were in a situation in which you had a chance to "catch" it. You can be EXPOSED to a STD by having sex with an infected person. You can lower your chance of being EXPOSED to a STD by not having sex or by using an effective moisture BARRIER.

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F

FALLOPIAN TUBES: The tubes that eggs move through to go from the ovaries to the uterus. There are two FALLOPIAN TUBES, each of them are three inches long and about the thickness of a drinking straw. One end almost touches an ovary and the other connects to the uterus. They work like a road or passageway. An egg leaves the ovary and rides along the tube until it gets to the uterus.

FANTASY: A dream or story that someone makes up. Some FANTASIES are sexual and can involve one person wishing or thinking about having sex with another person or other people.

FECES: The solid waste that comes out of the anus. It comes from material/food that the body cannot use.

FELLATIO: When a person kisses, licks or sucks on a man's penis. This is another way to have oral sex. It is also called a blow job. People can get HIV from FELLATIO. People doing this could get infected semen or pre-seminal fluid into their mouths. People having it done to their penis could get blood with HIV inside them through the hole at the tip of the penis. A non-lubricated latex condom will stop both of these things from happening. Slang terms: blow job, giving head, going down on.

FEMALE CONDOM: This is a condom designed to fit inside the vagina. The FEMALE CONDOM is made out of polyurethane. It is a soft pouch that is inserted into the vagina before sexual intercourse.

FERTILE: The time during a month that a woman can become pregnant. It is usually a period of eight days during her menstrual cycle. Up to five days before ovulation (because sperm can live this long inside the body), the day ovulation happens, and two days after (the life-span of an egg).

FERTILIZATION: The joining of a man's sperm cell and a woman's egg cell. If the fertilized egg gets to the uterus and sticks inside, then PREGNANCY begins.

FETUS: Eight weeks after fertilization an embryo grows into a FETUS. It is an unborn baby. It doesn't eat or breathe inside the mother. At birth a FETUS becomes a baby. A FETUS makes its own blood. It does not use its mother's. This is one reason why all mothers with HIV do not automatically give HIV to their baby.

FLUID: Any kind of liquid, usually used to describe one on the outside or inside of a person's body. Examples of body fluids are: semen, vaginal secretions, saliva, and blood.

FORESKIN: Loose skin that covers the tip of the PENIS on uncircumcised men.

FRENCH KISSING: A kiss in which both people open their mouths. One person puts their tongue into the other person's mouth. This makes saliva/spit go from one person's mouth to the other person's. Most STDs are not passed this way.

FROTTAGE: When two people rub their bodies together so that they feel good for some type of sexual pleasure. Another phrase for it is dry-humping.

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G

GAY: A word that means homosexual. Males that like or are attracted to other males or females that like other females are called GAY. They might fall in love or choose to have sexual contact. Women who like other women are also called lesbians.

GENDER: A way to describe people. Some of these ways are male/female, man/woman, or boy/girl. A person's gender is decided during fertilization. A man's SPERM determine what the GENDER of a FETUS will be.

GENITALS: The sex organs on the outside of the body, sometimes called "private parts." A woman's GENITALS are her vulva and clitoris. A man's GENITALS are his penis and testicles.

GENITOURINARY: Having to do with the urinary and reproductive systems, which are sometimes called the GU tract.

GLANS: Another word that means the end/tip/head of a male's penis.

GRAM STAIN: A laboratory procedure that uses stains and colors to tell the difference between different cells.

GROIN: Another word for the pelvic area on a person.

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HELPER T-CELL: An important part of the IMMUNE SYSTEM. HELPER T-CELLS are what your body uses to identify germs. When HIV finds a HELPER T-CELL it sneaks inside the cell and forces the cell to make more HIV. After a while many copies of HIV burst out of the cell, killing it. The new copies of HIV go find more HELPER T-CELLS. Eventually, HIV starts killing HELPER T-CELLS faster than your body can make them. This is how someone gets AIDS. Without HELPER T-CELLS, all kinds of germs that your body could normally fight off can grow and multiply, and make you very sick or even dead.

HEMOPHILIA: HEMOPHILIA is a blood-related condition that people are born with. People with HEMOPHILIA lack something called a "clotting factor" in their blood. Once a person with HEMOPHILIA gets cut, he or she will bleed for a very long time. Before hospitals screened donated BLOOD for HIV, HEMOPHILIACS (people with HEMOPHILIA) were at a higher risk for HIV because they tend to get BLOOD TRANSFUSIONS more than people without HEMOPHILIA.

HEPATITIS B: A sexually transmitted disease caused by a blood-borne VIRUS. It usually makes a person's liver swollen and sometimes their skin gets a yellow color. If it is untreated HEPATITIS B can cause cancer or severely damage a person's liver. There is no cure for HEPATITIS B, but there is a VACCINE that can prevent a person from getting it.

HEREDITARY: A trait or characteristic that is genetically passed from either the mother or the father to a child. No STD is passed genetically from a parent to their children.

HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus): This is the virus that usually leads to AIDS. It is a virus that only humans can pass to other humans. Once it is inside a person's body, it begins to break down or weaken the person's immune system. A person who has HIV may not get sick for a long time. You cannot tell if a person has HIV just by looking at them. The only way to know if a person has HIV is to do an official test. Hospitals and clinics can test a person for HIV by using their blood, urine (pee)or saliva (spit). It is also possible to purchase a Home Access Test (HAT) to test yourself for HIV without having to go to a hospital or clinic.

HETEROSEXUAL: A person who likes or is attracted to someone of the opposite sex. Someone who finds the gender opposite of theirs more attractive. They might fall in love or choose to have sexual contact with a person of the opposite sex. Males that like females and females that like males are called HETEROSEXUAL. Slang terms: straight, het, breeder, hetero.

HOMOSEXUAL: Someone who finds his or her own gender attractive. They might fall in love or choose to have sexual contact with this person. Males that like males and females that like females are HOMOSEXUAL. Slang terms: Men: faggot, queer, gay, homo, queen, etc; Women: lesbian, dyke, femme, bull-dyke, lezzie, lesbo.

HORMONES: Chemicals/substances/things that a body makes to help other organs do their job.

HORNY: A slang term that means someone feels like they want to have sex, either with one specific person, or with any person.

HYMEN: A thin piece of skin that stretches over the opening of the vagina. There is a small opening in it to let blood flow out of the vagina during a period. People used to think that a HYMEN that wasn't broken meant a girl was a virgin. Now we know that it has a small hole in it that can get stretched more just from running, playing or using tampons. Some girls are even born without a HYMEN.

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IMMUNE: To be protected or safe from something. Most people who get chicken pox as children are IMMUNE to chicken pox for the rest of their lives. There are VACCINES that can make you IMMUNE to certain diseases, like Hepatitis B.

IMMUNE SYSTEM: A group of cells inside the body that all work together to keep a person healthy by killing germs. These cells can tell the difference between the cells that are part of the body and those things that don't belong inside someone. They defend or protect the body from enemies or invaders like viruses, bacteria and other germs. Lymph nodes and white blood cells are two parts of the IMMUNE SYSTEM.

INCUBATION PERIOD: The time period that goes from the first day a person gets an STD until they start to get sick. Depending on the disease, this can be as short as a few days or more than 10 years. Even though an infected person may feel perfectly healthy and show no symptoms during a disease's INCUBATION PERIOD, they still can still give the disease to another person.

INFECTED: Another way to say that someone has "caught" a germ is to say they are INFECTED. If you are infected with a disease-causing germ there is a certain amount of time (called an INCUBATION PERIOD) between the time you get INFECTED and the time that you show SYPMTOMS (signs) of the disease.

INJECTING DRUG USERS: People who use needles to put drugs into their bodies. Drugs like heroin, cocaine or speed can be injected into a person's veins. Steroids are usually injected into someone's muscles. People who share needles can get HIV or other blood borne infections like HEPATITIS B. The blood that gets into the needle/syringe/case (where the drugs are put) from one person's body can then get into another person's body when they use the same needle. The risk of catching an STD through needles can be eliminated by either not sharing needles or STERILIZING them between uses.

INTERCOURSE: See sexual intercourse.

INTRAVENOUS (I.V.): Going directly into someone's veins. Doctors and nurses can deliver certain medicines and fluids INTRAVENOUSLY by attaching a long tube with a needle on the end of it to a bag of the medicine or fluid. A doctor or nurse will then put the needle into a person's vein and allow the fluid to flow into it.