Nearly a third had sex before turning 16, the age of consent in the UK. Those polled opted to have sex by the time they were 18, with half reporting their first time happened by the time they turned 17. Most wished they had waited longer to lose their virginity, while a few said they should have done it sooner. Participants were quizzed about whether both they and their partner had been equally keen to have sex, whether the decision had felt like their own, whether contraception was used, and whether they had felt ready at the time to start having sex. Researchers questioned 2,825 sexually experienced British people between the ages of 17 and 24 about their experience of losing their virginity. The latest National Survey of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles poll revealed many people didn’t feel ‘ready’ to have sex when they did.
Research published in BMJ Sexual & Reproductive Health shows that four in 10 women and one in four men didn’t feel they picked the ‘right’ time for their first sexual encounter. Deciding the age to lose your virginity is a pretty big deal, but turns out many of us don’t feel we chose ‘the right time’ to have sex for the first time.
