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Some people split their care so that they go to a
nearby physician for non-sexual issues, but travel some
distance to a sex-positive physician for their sexual
matters. This may be the best approach if you can't find a
nonjudgmental doctor in your area, or if you do not trust
the confidentiality of local doctors.
However, if your health insurance requires you to pick
one doctor, then you have to make some choices. If you
choose the nearby doctor as your primary care physician,
you'll probably wind up having to pay the sex-positive
doctor out of pocket. On the other hand, if you designate
the sex-positive doctor as your primary care physician,
then you wind up making a long, uncomfortable drive
for minor flus, headaches and infections ­ and a "short"
forty-minute drive can seem very long indeed when you're
fighting an intestinal virus.
What if you go to a clinic? If you get your health
care from a clinic, you may not always have the same
physician, or you may have a limited choice of physicians.
Get to know the administrator/nurses/receptionists at the
clinic, and see if they can clue you into which doctors are
likely to be accepting. You do not have to describe your
behavior or lifestyle, but it is more likely that someone
open about sex generally would be open about your kink,
whatever it is.
Finding out about the practitioner you already
have. If you already have a health care practitioner with
whom you are basically comfortable, but you're not sure
whether or not he is nonjudgmental about sexuality and
alternative sexual behaviors, make an appointment for
a consultation. Pay for this appointment as you would
any other; because you are paying, you get to ask your