The first explicit how-to book on sexual intercourse that I read as a pubescent was Love Without Fear, which I discreetly covered with plain brown paper to camouflage my nascent interest in sexuality from my mid-Victorian-thinking parents. Sex was a scary issue as a kid back then, and for a lot of reasons—not the least of which was fear of pregnancy.

Fast forward over the intervening years during which most of us had our share of sex, babies, and menopause. A more timely book title for today’s boomers and beyond set (that same generation grown up) might be Love Without Fear of Sexually Transmitted Disease.

The American Association of Retired Persons did a survey in 2006 and found that 70% of single baby boomers are actively dating, and that 45% of men and 38% of women between the ages of 40 and 59 were having sex at least once a week. Another study, published by the New England Journal of Medicine, reported that a majority of the 3,005 American adults they surveyed, aged 57 to 85, continued to have sex two to three times a month.

While many seasoned singles have no intention of putting to rest their appetite for sex as they age, marriage is not always the motivating force in their relationships. These men and women are all about relaxing, having a good time, and connecting with others on a variety of levels—not the least of which is sex. Options for meeting are numerous, including: friends, professional associations, special interest clubs, parties, church, and certainly the Internet. With kids and dysfunctional marriages out of the way, these people are ready to make a fresh start, rather than cave into the limitations of traditional “old age.”

Ordinarily, this would sound like an idyllic scenario for a “brave new world” of older, sexually active people were it not for the facts revealed in an AARP study indicating that many boomers are not guarding their health in their pursuit of sexual pleasures. You would think that the “older and wiser” rule would apply here, but the surprising statistics prove the opposite. The study found that 76% of singles over 45 don’t use protection when having sex, falsely rationalizing that without the risk of pregnancy, they don’t need to use a condom. Wrong and dangerous thinking like this has grown the rate of sexually transmitted diseases among Boomers to an alarming degree.

According to an article in The Los Angeles Times by P.J.Huffstutter, “The over-50 crowd is a relatively small segment of the nation’s at-risk group for sexually transmitted diseases,” so it has been generally overlooked in terms of cautionary measures, and therefore, more vulnerable to disease. 

Many older patients are not comfortable talking with their physicians about sex, according to AARP research, and young doctors may feel equally uncomfortable discussing the issue with people old enough to be their parents or grandparents.