If you like him, don't let this stupid little thing stop you.

You should check out this:

https://www.instagram.com/my_boyfriend_has_herpes/?hl=en

It's a great little comic / true story of a woman in your position when she met a man with herpes. They answer A LOT of questions as well.

Also, don't be so fast to believe everything here on reddit. I've known a guy with GHSV-2 who married someone without. They've been having unprotected sex for years, and she recently just got tested and came up negative. There is A LOT to say about someone who is on anti-virals, and is careful.

You can also think of it this way: The transmission rate is WAY HIGHER if you sleep with someone who doesn't know they even have HSV. Something like half the people who actually have some form of HSV have never experienced symptoms. And STD' tests don't include HSV test, unless SPECIFICALLY asked for and paid for, and they are often $100+ around here. So no one really gets them unless they expect they have it. If someone has never been tested recently, paid that money, and got an anitbody test, they wouldn't know unless sore appears. And even then, some sores are so mild it might just feel like a pimple.

Yes, there is always asymptomatic shedding, but antivirals, condoms, and your guy being careful (which is a thing, to be able to recognize prodrome symptoms), is probably a lot safer sleeping with, condom on or off, than sleeping with someone who doesn't know they have them, because they never got a "sore", despite the face it can still shed. without knowing.