By Anastasia Dzutstsati

The latest National Survey of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyle poll says that people might not be ready to have sex by the legal age of consent.

The survey results showed that the age of losing your virginity is defined by many factors, including the emotional bond and level of trust between partners, state of their physical and mental health and sexual education.

Becker Al-Khayat, a doctor at St George’s University Hospital, Devon, believes that there is no right age for losing your virginity, as emotional maturity may vary. However, in his opinion, it is very important to think about mental health aspect of any sexual relationship.

“The main factor we are looking at is a mental health aspect: is someone doing it for the wrong reason, do they feel they don’t have a choice on the matter, is this actually not a consensual act?

“Lot of these things can lead to the traumatic moments for these young teenagers and very much affect their later-on life.”

The survey showed that nearly 40% of young women and 26% of young men did not feel that their first sexual experience had happened at the right time.

Hannah Stevens, a 20-year-old biology student from the University of Birmingham, explains why she waited to lose her virginity till the age of 18.

“I decided to keep my virginity until the age of 18, because before that I wasn’t in a relationship and I thought that for my first time I wanted to be with someone in a relationship rather than having a one-night-stand.

“I’ve watched quite a few of my friends lose their virginity this way and they really regretted it afterwards.”

As there might not be a perfect age when it comes to losing your virginity, it’s very important to ask yourself multiple questions and go through a sex education beforehand.