DEAR HARRIETTE: My girlfriend and I have been together for about two years now, and we have decided that we are ready for unprotected sex. With this decision came the discussion of birth control, which we both agreed on, and STI testing, which my girlfriend insists on. When she went to her birth control consultation, she says that she got tested “so we can start off on a clean slate,” and now she expects me to do so, too. Honestly, I get tested once a year as part of my routine wellness check, but I feel a little offended about how pushy she’s being with this. We’ve been in a committed relationship for this long. If she’s healthy, why would she assume I am not? This sort of feels like a test – either to see if I’m not healthy when she is or to see if I hesitate or refuse to take the test. Either way, this feels like a lack of trust that I didn’t know existed. Am I looking at this wrong? – Getting Tested DEAR GETTING TESTED: Unprotected sex requires a deep level of trust and vulnerability. Don’t be offended. It’s great how responsible you are with your health in general. Many people do not get annual checkups, and a lot of people lie about their health.