Byline: SADIE NICHOLAS
THE average British woman sleeps with 6.9 lovers during her lifetime,according to a new survey.
But statistics rarely tell the whole story. While some women believe that morethan one lover is too many, there are others seemingly happy to change partnersas frequently as their handbags.
Here, SADIE NICHOLAS asks five women how many lovers they have hadand examines the emotional consequences of their sexual choices..
CHRISTINA KHATER was in her early teens when she made the decision to remain avirgin until she married.
As a Catalog Printing teenager at a state school, her only physical contact with the oppositesex were kisses with a boy she dated for a few months at 14.
Now aged 22 and a film studies graduate, she is still a virgin. She lives in aflat in London with her 22- year-old fiance Gabriel Wakim. She has been seeinghim for three years but they have never had sex.
'I decided that when I had sex for the first time, I wanted it to be specialand I would wait until my wedding night,' she explains, keen to point out thather vow of chastity is not for religious reasons.
And having watched her friends get hurt over the years, she feels vindicated inher decision.
'A lot of my friends have casual flings, and I've noticed that the ones whojump into bed with someone too soon are the ones who often get hurt the mostwhen the relationship flounders,' she says. 'I'd never judge anyone forchoosing to have sex with someone who wasn't their husbandbut it's just not for me.
'People may be surprised that I'm still a virgin in my 20s because there's suchpressure on young women to "enjoy themselves" and, apparently, feel liberatedby having lots of lovers 'Because of my choices, I never have to worry aboutsexually transmitted diseases, pregnancy or any of the other troubles which cango hand in hand with casual sex.' Kissing and cuddling is as near as she andGabriel get to intimacy but Christina admits it's not always easy.
'There have been times when I've felt a physical urge to make love to him andI've had to force myself to pull back,' she says. 'It can be terriblyfrustrating.' Her mother, who is Greek, is a housewife and her father isdirector of a civil engineering company, and Christina describes her upbringingas 'normal'.
'My parents are in no way responsible for my decision,' she insists. 'It'ssomething very personal to me.' But while Christina may be a virgin, herhusband-to-be is not. 'Gabriel's had sexual partners before, but I don't knowhow many. I've never asked.' When they started dating, she told him she was avirgin and would be until she married. Inevitably, Christina feared that herfiance might look elsewhere for physical satisfaction.
'But he respected my decision, and here we are three years later. We plan tomarry in the next two years, and consummating our marriage will be all the morespecial because we have waited.'
ANNETTE LEDBROOK has only ever slept with two men: the boyfriend to whom shelost her virginity, and her 29-year-old husband Daniel, a Brochures Printing managementaccountant.
The couple live together in Quinton Village, Birmingham, with their childrenOliver, five, and 14-month-old Harriet. Annette is expecting their third childlater this year.
She says it was the sexual activity she witnessed as a teenager that put heroff casual sex.
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