Telling a sexual partner you have chlamydia is uncomfortable, but it’s one of the most important steps in your treatment. If your partner doesn’t get treated, there’s roughly a 1 in 5 chance (about 19%) they’ll reinfect you, even after you’ve completed your own medication. The good news: chlamydia is easily curable, the conversation can be short, and there are even anonymous options if a face-to-face talk feels impossible.
Who You Need to Tell
The general guideline is to notify anyone you’ve had sexual contact with in the past six months. That includes oral, vaginal, and anal sex. Chlamydia can be completely silent for months, so even a partner from several months ago may be carrying the infection without knowing it. If you’re in a current relationship, that partner is the priority, but don’t skip notifying past partners if you can reach them.
What to Actually Say
You don’t need a long speech. A direct, calm statement works best. Something like: “I tested positive for chlamydia. You should get tested and treated, because you may have been exposed.” That’s really all the essential information. You can say it in person, over the phone, or by text. There’s no single right medium.
A few things that help the conversation go more smoothly:
- Lead with facts, not blame. Chlamydia often has no symptoms, so neither of you may know where it originated. Framing it as a health update rather than an accusation keeps the conversation productive.
- Have basic information ready. Your partner will likely ask what chlamydia is, whether it’s serious, and what they need to do. The short answers: it’s a very common bacterial infection, it’s cured with a week of antibiotics, and they should get tested as soon as possible.
- Pick a private moment. Whether it’s a current partner or someone you’re no longer seeing, choose a time when you can talk without being overheard or rushed.
For a current partner, honesty protects the relationship more than it threatens it. Hiding a diagnosis and risking reinfection (or letting the infection cause long-term damage to your partner) is far worse than a few minutes of awkwardness.
If You’d Rather Stay Anonymous
Not every partner notification needs to happen face to face. If you’re no longer in contact with someone, or if the conversation feels unsafe, anonymous tools exist specifically for this situation. TellYourPartner.org, listed by the CDC’s National Prevention Information Network, lets you send an anonymous text to a partner alerting them that they may have been exposed to an STI. The message never reveals your identity.
Some local health departments also offer partner notification services. You provide your partner’s contact information, and a public health worker reaches out on your behalf without naming you. Your clinic or testing site can tell you whether this service is available in your area.
Your Partner’s Next Steps
Once you’ve told your partner, they need to get tested. Chlamydia is detectable by a urine test or swab about one week after exposure, and testing at two weeks catches nearly all infections. If they were exposed recently, testing too early could produce a false negative, so timing matters.
Treatment is straightforward: a seven-day course of antibiotics. In most cases, your partner will need their own prescription, but there’s a shortcut worth knowing about. Expedited partner therapy (EPT) allows your own doctor to write an extra prescription for your partner, so they can start treatment without scheduling a separate visit. EPT is legal in 48 states plus Washington, D.C., and potentially allowable in the remaining two. Ask your provider about this option, especially if your partner doesn’t have easy access to a clinic.
Protecting Yourself From Reinfection
This is the part most people don’t realize: getting treated doesn’t protect you if your partner still carries the infection. Modeling studies estimate a reinfection probability of about 19% when a partner goes untreated. That means nearly one in five people who complete their own medication end up positive again because their partner never took antibiotics.
To avoid this cycle, both you and your partner should finish the full course of medication before having sex again. The standard recommendation is to wait at least seven days after both of you complete treatment. If you do have sex before that window closes, use a condom.
Handling Common Reactions
Partners react in different ways. Some are grateful you told them. Some get upset or accusatory. Some go quiet. All of these are normal responses to unexpected health news. A few points to keep in mind if the conversation gets tense:
Chlamydia is the most commonly reported bacterial STI in the United States. Having it doesn’t mean anyone was reckless. It spreads easily, often produces zero symptoms, and many people carry it without ever knowing. If your partner reacts with anger, give them space to process. You’ve done the responsible thing by telling them, and their emotional reaction doesn’t change that.
If your partner insists they “can’t” have it because they feel fine, that’s actually the norm. Most chlamydia infections are asymptomatic. Feeling healthy is not the same as testing negative, and they still need to get checked.
Telling a New Partner Before Sex
If you’ve been diagnosed but haven’t yet finished treatment, any new sexual partner deserves to know before things get physical. This conversation is simpler than it sounds: “I’m currently being treated for chlamydia and need to wait until my medication is done before we have sex.” Most people will respect the honesty. Once you’ve completed treatment and waited the full seven days, you’re no longer infectious and don’t need to disclose to future partners the way you would with a chronic infection.