Ladies, here’s how many (million) sexual partners you’ve REALLY had

Most of us have a solid idea of our 'number' when it comes to how many sexual partners we've had, be it one or one hundred.

But with STI statistics on the rise in Ireland, it's important to be aware of another number too… the amount of 'indirect' partners you've had.

For every one person you've slept with, there's a high likelihood they have their own history of sexual partners too. And when you take into account how many people their partners have slept with, and so on, the number just keeps growing.

So what's the total tally? Well, now you can find out, thanks to the Sex Degrees of Separation calculator developed by Lloyds Pharmacy. Be prepared, because the numbers will shock you.

For example, someone with five male sexual partners in the 20-24 age group is estimated to have slept with a whopping 1,353,301 people indirectly.

And the more partners you've had, the more that number grows:

The formula is based on the Six Degrees of Separation theory, the "sociological idea that we are all connected to each other by only six connections.

In order to give you an estimate of your number, the calculator asks for the number of partners you've had and what age group each was in.

It then tallies how many people those partners are statistically likely to have slept with given their age, and so on for six stages or degrees.

The aim? To estimate how many indirect partners you could have been exposed to sexually.

It's important to note that the calculator is simply a statistical estimate, and serves only to highlight the possible risks of unprotected sex, but all the same it's definitely made us think.