When Clare found out at Christmas she had a sexually transmitted disease she was devastated, writes Katherine MacAlister.

Not only would the 26-year-old have to break the news to her boyfriend, but it could mean she would be left infertile.

Yet when the doctors told her she had chlamydia - otherwise known as the silent disease - she had never heard of it.

"I didn't know what it was until they explained it to me. It was such a shock. My boyfriend went mad, although he was just as likely as me to have contracted it. "He said I should never have slept with him in the first place, as if I had known all along, and refused to go for a test.

"I told him if he didn't go for a test he could be left infertile, would almost certainly pass it on to his next partner and that I would not have sex with him until he did. He soon went to the clinic."

Clare and Roger, also 26, both tested positive and Clare had the added discomfort of pelvic inflammation disease, the element which can lead to infertility and which is brought on by chlamydia itself. Both partners were prescribed antibiotics and a month later had recovered, although Clare experienced some nasty side-effects from the drugs. But Clare and Roger split up soon after the chlamydia episode, despite having lived together for a year and a half.

As Clare has no idea how long she had chlamydia, she is now tracking down past sexual partners to alert them to the danger and make sure they get tested themselves.

"That's the really hard part," she said.

Clare is now left wondering whether she will ever be able to have children.

"I would have waited until I was at least 30 before I had kids but you always think you'll have that option and now it's been taken away. It's what your body is made for and having that option removed is horrible. I'll just have to wait and see now.

"I felt so different about myself afterwards. It affects your whole life. I couldn't bear sex, dressed differently and was a whole different person. I felt disgusting for a long time." As for the medical treatment she received, she cannot praise it highly enough. Her GP referred her to the Harrison Clinic at Oxford's Radcliffe Infirmary, where she was screened for everything.

She had been feeling generally unwell for a while but could not pinpoint what was wrong.

"I thought I just had a bad case of thrush or cystitis, but it wouldn't clear up," she said. "They were amazing there and so nice to me. They know how hard it is to go in and talk about it and they really respect that. They test you straight away and offer you on-the-spot counselling, which really helped. I would advise anyone to go in for a check-up there once a year."

Story date: Wednesday 21 April

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