As we start to travel through our teenage years we also experiment with romantic relationships, our first crush or first boyfriend/girlfriend. This is completely normal.

As we get to our older teenage years these relationships may start to get a bit more serious. With that comes a bit of responsibility on our part.

Just like with your platonic friendships in relationships nobody has the right to know any more about you than you want them to, however it is a good idea for you to sit down and have a conversation with them before you go any further in your relationship.

You may want to wait for a while to see if it becomes long term or you might be confident and announce it straight away. There is no right or wrong answer, its down to you and what you feel comfortable with.

The amount of detail you go into is your responsibility to decide but it’s a good idea to bear in mind that your partner may have to help if needed and the more information they have the better.

Knowing what to say may be difficult or you may find it awkward to talk about. What to tell them totally depends on where you are in your relationship. Ideas to break the ice and get them to understand could include;

• Your type of single ventricle heart, watch the LHM animation together.
• Your medication and even ask them to remind you.
• Your energy levels, this might even help with future dates.

A very important thing to remember no matter what you say to make this safe is clear communication. If they start to ask questions you are uncomfortable with or don’t know the answer to, its okay for you to tell them this. Your feelings are important.

It is okay to have sex with half a working heart as long as both people having sex are the legal age. In England, Scotland, N. Ireland and Wales that age is 16 in the republic of Ireland it is 17. If you and your partner are of legal age in your area and want to have sex you are safe to do so with half a working heart.

As with anyone looking to start a sexual relationship a conversation is a good idea, especially with half a heart. You have less energy, so you need to take this into account and warn your partner beforehand.

If you are of legal age and thinking about sex is important that you look into the correct type of contraception for you as there are some you cannot take.

For more information about this check the link below:

LHM Sex and relationships with half a heart booklet

While the legal age of consent for sex and sexual acts is 16/17 depending on where you live, the relevant age in relation to indecent images is 18 years old.

This includes sending indecent / sexualised selfies, sending or passing around indecent sexualised images of someone else or receiving them from someone else.

IE – if you send nude photos of yourself and you’re under 18 this could be seen as a crime as well as receiving nude photos from under 18.