Felicia Fox writes: Hey, guys — this is Felicia Fox. I’ve been reading the comments that Shelley Lubben and Jersey Jaxin have made regarding the adult industry, and I wanted to comment.

While I realize that porn is far from the ideal career move for most people, I have no regrets about the five years I spent shooting adult. From September 2000 through July 2005, I shot over 100 XXX scenes. Many were done for companies like Wicked, Vivid, Digital Playground and Adam & Eve; a few were for companies known for their gonzo titles, and others were done for websites — southernbukkake.com, meatholes.com, backalleyhookers.com, pleasebangmywife.com.

I toured as a feature dancer during this time, shot layouts for men’s magazines and shot a number of softcore films, which I booked through the wonderful Robert Lombard at Creative Image Management, www.creativeimagemgmt.com. I also made paid appearances at trade shows for everyone from GVA and Evolution Erotica to adultrental.com, Passion Pictures and Sean Michaels Productions.

I insisted on working with condoms when doing hardcore whenever possible (even when the company I was working for was known to be anti-condom, such as Sin City). I also had a small list of male talent who I preferred working with, and insisted on working with one of those 10 guys for nearly all my scenes. If a producer wasn’t willing to work with me on those points, I WOULD TURN DOWN THE SCENE. I never shot an anal scene. I never stepped onto a set that I wasn’t prepared to walk away from if a producer pressured me to do something I didn’t want to do.

Largely because of this policy, I believe, I never contracted an STD during my time in XXX (or during any other time in my life, for that matter). My records, on file at AIM Healthcare, can help to verify this.

Although I drink socially, and enjoy partying with friends, I choose not to drink to excess and I’ve only rarely been “drunk”. I’ve never gotten a DUI, and never felt the need to drink or get high in order to shoot a scene. While I experimented with drugs when I was in my teens, by the time I broke into XXX at 25 I was past all that, and I never used drugs while I was working in porn. Not at home, not on the road, not on a set…no weed, no blow, no meth, no nothing. The worst I did was take prescribed Ambiens to help me sleep, and prescribed Xenicals to help me maintain my weight. A few Botox injections were the only time I spent money on cosmetic surgery.

As I worked, I saved my money. At least 20% of everything I made went into savings. In 2005 I bought a home in Ohio, and earlier that year I spent $7000.00 in cash to get Tim’s vasectomy reversed so we could have the baby I’m looking at right now. This fall I plan to go back to school.

I almost never booked through an agent, preferring to book almost every one of my scenes myself. Therefore, there was never any pressure (other than financial) on me to do things I didn’t want to do. Other than a brief fling with a rock star, I didn’t date anyone outside my relationship with Tim. Thanks to my time in porn, I got to travel all over the country, I got to meet celebrities and make lifelong friends who I still see regularly and love dearly, I won a number of awards and I left the business with my heart, body, mind and soul intact. My relationship is strong, I have a new baby and I have never been happier.

Honestly, I am far from perfect, and I really don’t mean to sound preachy here. I just think that, rather than demonizing the entire industry, perhaps a bit of judgement should be reserved for those who don’t make sound life choices when it comes to the events that affect their own lives.