Is it possible to give someone genital HSV-1 if they already have oral HSV-1?

by DJ

After 23 years of marriage, my husband recently filed for divorce. Once the divorce was final, I found a great guy and we started a relationship. He and I had both been in basically the same situation; we had both been in long-term monogamous relationships.


Approximately one week after our second sexual encounter, I developed blister-like bumps in my genital area. We were both in shock. I had never experienced anything like this before and I knew what it was before it was even officially diagnosed. He swears that he has never had an STD and, as I said before, he had been in a long-term monogamous relationship previously and had not had any other sex partners since. I also have never had any STDs and had not had any sexual relationships since my divorce.

After discussing it, we determined that I probably had genital HSV-1 from oral sex with him. He told me he has had cold sores since childhood; I have never had cold sores (so apparently had never been exposed to HSV-1). After testing it was indeed determined that I had recently been exposed to HSV-1.

My question now is: Is it possible for me to give him genital HSV-1 now if we have unprotected sex or is he protected since he already has oral HSV-1 (which was the source of my exposure to begin with)?

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