Hi just to make you feel a little better. They haven’t always checked for hpv routinely in smears. It’s relatively new- not sure on dates. But my last 2 showed hpv the previous before that didn’t- I have mine more often too due to abnormal cells that have been removed a few times. So maybe the last time you had a smear they wasn’t routinely screening for hpv. Many people can have this and never even know. :) 

Hi Sarah,

You’d be amazed how often this issue gets raised. We have partners threatening to leave their partners all the time because of it. 

Did you come across this article when you were googling? It attempts to bust some of the myths about HPV - which is about as common and as easy to catch as the common cold! If either of you has been intimate with someone just once in the past 20 or 30 years (just touching is enough) that would be enough to become infected with HPV. Why didn’t it come up 3 years ago? Who knows, perhaps one of you was carrying it in its dormant undetectable form? 

www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/health-45498024

I hope you sort this out soon.

Best wishes

Dave