Porn STI Testing Explained

There seems to be some confusion among new people coming into the industry and some agents are giving conflicting information, perhaps because they themselves don’t know. If you want to be a porn star you go to be tested every 14 days. We used to test every 30 days, but as of November 2013 we now test every 14 days.

Those tests check for HIV, chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis as well as hep B and C and trichomoniasis vaginalis.

If someone (anyone) tells you it’s okay to shoot a scene of any kind without being tested for all of these things, you absolutely do not want to shoot that scene or have anything to do with anyone who has shot a scene with that person. For your own safety and well being, you don’t want to ever perform any sexual acts with any person without verifying their test from an approved testing facility which at this point is only CET and TTS.

The current biggest source of confusion comes with the new protocol for performers with Hep C. Until around November of 2013, we didn’t even test for Hep C, so people who had Hep C were actively performing. Hep C is known as the silent killer. It attacks your liver and cuts your life span down drastically.

Typically, the first test you will have is the hepatitis C antibody (anti-HCV). If this test is positive, it means you were infected with the hepatitis C virus at some point in the past. But this test alone is not enough. You will still need another test (called HCV RNA) to confirm if you still have the hepatitis C virus in your system. So some people will have a positive antibody test, but a negative HCV RNA (no virus in their bloodstream), which basically means you are currently not infectious.

So what does that even mean? Well, once you get Hep C the antibody stays in your system for life. So even if you are on the proper medicine and it’s under control, which means you aren’t infectious, your still going to pop positive for it, because there is no cure for Hep C.

While the infectious stages may come and go, there is no cure for hepatitis C.

However that being said, there are medications you can take to clear up the virus in your blood and most people are considered “cured” when the viral load is undetectable for at least 6 months. This doesn’t mean you are truly cured and it will never come back ever again. Because it can. But at that point in your life you’ve been stable enough and are showing no signs of the virus so basically you aren’t a high risk of infecting others. However you still can’t donate blood, ever for as long as you live because again once you have hep c, you’ve actually got it for life. It doesn’t just go away, even if it’s under control. Those antibodies will live inside of you forever. As of 2011, there is a new drug on the market that will stop the virus from replicating. This is a huge advancement in the treatment of Hep C. It’s not a cure and it is expensive, but it could mean the difference between dying in a few years from liver failure or living a long and happy life like everyone else.

Yes Hep C is that serious. And this is why we now test for Hep C and don’t allow anyone who has it to perform in the adult industry.

If your agent or your friend or some random producer tells you it’s no big deal, they are wrong. Dying from liver failure is in fact a very big deal.

Having other things wrong with you won’t make you test positive for Hep C. I once met a girl who told me that she had Lupus and as a result that made her test positive for Hep C, even though she didn’t really have it.

Yes there is such a thing as a false positive and even a false-negative when testing for Hep C or HIV or anything really. But if you test positive over and over and over again, it’s because you have the Hep C antibodies in your system. Lying about it won’t change this fact. That’s why we have tests in the first place.

Some people try and get around the system by only testing at CET because their test (like their HIV one) doesn’t test for the antibodies. It only tests for your current viral load. So in fact if a person has HIV or Hep C but their viral load is undetectable because they are on medication to suppress that and boost their immune system,  CET will pass them. TTS will not. That’s why I consider TTS (Talent Testing Service) a far more superior system.

I wouldn’t ever trust a CET test for that very reason. I don’t give a fuck if you are on your medication, I want to know if you have HIV or Hep C or not. Fuck all the fine points. If you have HIV I don’t want you sticking your cock inside of me, period. But hey, that’s just me.

The girl I told you about before who tried to claim she popped dirty at TTS every time mind you, for Hep C because she had Lupus, as you might imagine, she only uses a CET test people of course they will clear her to work, while TTS won’t.

Male porn star Alex Gonz had Hep C and (the rumor is) he would only test at CET because he and his agent knew he would pop dirty at TTS. If this is true or not is still unclear but what we do know is he ended up being exposed as having Hep C by Lisa Ann.

Here’s a summary of how he got exposed by Lisa Ann from CNBC.

Last summer, Lisa Ann announced via a series of tweets that she had been booked to work with someone who she discovered had not been cleared to work by the industry’s self-regulated health-screening service. She did not name the performer but accused him of attempting to work with hepatitis C.

“This is to protect myself and my peers,” she wrote. “This is also to remind the evil doings of ‘Breaking the Trust’ they will be called out. Come on people, I love this business, I will always fight for it, But it is scarier than ever with the lack of trust. Putting others’ health [at] risk to make a bit of money is unacceptable.”

At the 2014 Adult Entertainment Expo, Lisa Ann said that while the performer in question was pursuing legal action against her, she has otherwise received nothing but positive feedback from the adult community.

She did not directly identify the actor in the tweets but later acknowledged she was referring to Alex Gonz.

Replying to the allegations in October on a conference call set up by his agent, Gonz said he does have trace levels of hep C in his blood but that medical experts had told him those were so low that he has never been infectious.

During that same call, he announced that he would no longer be a performer in adult films.

“I’ve had it since I was born,” Gonz said.”I’ve never put anyone’s life at risk by doing anything harmful or dangerous. … I never lied on or tampered with any test result, nor have I ever concealed or deceived the industry with any test result that could negatively impact the thousands of talented performers I am proud to call my colleagues. I have consistently been cleared to perform by all of the testing facilities I have ever been tested at, and never been given any reason to believe otherwise.”

I know this has been a long article so let me make it simple for you. Go to TTS and get tested every 14 days like you are supposed to and never work with anyone who doesn’t have a cleared test either. If you aren’t sure of someone’s results, don’t take the risk. It’s not worth it. Your life matters.