Paying For Peace of Mind

By Janice Castro

A lively crowd of 200 people flocked to the party at Houston's glitzy Ocean Club, but an uninvited guest also turned up: fear. The affair, sponsored by a new organization called Safe Adults, kicked off the city's first social club for people who are worried about contracting AIDS. To join, prospective members must agree to submit to an AIDS test every six months. Oil Production Analyst Mary Harter, 28, plans to sign up. At Safe Adults, she said, "you'll meet the kind of people who are at least aware of AIDS and willing to do something to protect themselves. Herpes you can treat, but AIDS will kill you, and no roll in the hay is worth that."

Across the U.S., social clubs are springing up to soothe singles who are jittery about AIDS. Although those most at risk for the disease remain homosexual men and intravenous drug users, a growing number of heterosexual singles are demanding a clean bill of health in place of spoken assurances that a new acquaintance is not carrying the virus. By requiring all members to take blood-screening tests, dating services are taking some of the risk out of meeting people, if some of the spontaneity.

Some of the AIDS-free organizations operate like clubs, sponsoring outings and encouraging dating among members. Others simply certify that members have tested negative for AIDS. In Santa Clara, Calif., the American Institute for Safe Sex Practices, for example, issues a photo ID card with renewable stickers stating that the bearer has passed an AIDS test.

At Judy Yorio's Compatibles, a New England dating service that claims 5,000 members in five states, clients have been asked to take an AIDS blood test at least twice a year. They may decline, but would-be partners who inquire will be told that the member refused to be tested. The response from clients, says Yorio, "has been very strong and very approving."

Peace of Mind, Inc., a club based in West Bloomfield, Mich., offers an elaborate menu of safe-sex services. Founded in February by six local businessmen, the club has signed up about 100 people so far for memberships ranging from the $99 basic package, which includes a blood-screening test for AIDS every six months, to the deluxe membership ($649), which includes tests every three months for AIDS, herpes and nine other sexually transmitted diseases. That is not all: Peace of Mind provides a telephone-counseling and referral service, a newsletter, a dental program and discounts at 43 local stores.

No matter how rigorous the testing requirements, no organization can be certain that its members are not infected with the AIDS virus. Reason: the body can take as long as four months to produce antibodies to the virus. Until that happens, an AIDS carrier will test negative and may gain a mistaken sense of security. Even a person who is AIDS free when the test is administered may shortly afterward become infected. To avoid lawsuits, most social clubs advertising protection from AIDS make a point of stating in their applications that they cannot guarantee that members are not infected.

With reporting by Lianne Hart/Houston and Dick Thompson/Washington