What Kind of Parent Doesn’t Vaccinate Their Child??!!??

What kind of person doesn’t vaccinate their child?

This kind.

Now, before you fly into full rage, both my children are vaccinated. We are all good, not spreading any near-eradicated diseases over here.

But, back in 1999, when my first son was born, I chose not to get him vaccinated, and waited until he was around six years old. At the time, I thought I was making an educated choice, and a choice based on what seemed like a lot of factors.  Articles and news stories linking Autism to the MMR vaccine were abundant.  A very famous medical report had come out, claiming to have found a direct link, and even Tony Blair wasn’t vaccinating his child.  A lot of people were concerned, and it was a much heated topic.

I also had a family friend who’s eighteen month old went from seemingly normal to not, shortly after having the vaccine.  A chatty, bubbly little boy suddenly stopped talking, stopped making eye contact, stopped making ANY contact, and went into an internal shell he’s never come out of.  It was heartbreaking and scary.

I had another friend who worked for a “big bad pharmaceutical” company, who are “just in this to make money.” (I still believe that is the case, but make money and save lives.)

I was told by medical professionals, that if my unvaccinated child got something, other children would not get it. So, in the rare event of him catching something, it would be an isolated case. Despite what everyone hears, it was very easy to not vaccinate.  I had no problems registering him for school.  I had a document called “Statement Of Conscience or Religious Belief” form, and that was all I needed.  This was actually must easier to do than it was to register him for a school outside of our catchment area. ( I succeeded at both!)

Another reason, maybe the biggest, was based from nothing scientific, but based on emotion. Now, we all know this is the worst thing to make life altering decisions on, but let’s face it, most decisions are probably made this way, with no science, no rational reason, but emotions. It’s a powerful thing.

I had a very traumatizing birth, and my teeny tiny five pound shining star’s little heart almost stopped. The family beside me in the recovery room lost their little star, and lying in a hospital bed, hearing all of their grief while my baby was in an incubator was too much for me to handle.  A week after being home with my son, my personal life also took a terrible turn. SO, add all of this to the information I had against the vaccines, and a choice was made. I felt with every fibre of my being that my child COULD NOT receive this. He was all I had, and I felt like this was a much bigger risk than a case of the measles.

I read a lot of comments now, how “Anti-vaxxers” love to defy authority, or do this as a sense of entitlement, and I have heard parents brag about their bold choices. Well, I am here to tell you these choices aren’t bold, they are stupid. The medical community, including the Autism community, have tried very hard for the past fifteen years to find any link, but there isn’t one.  IF there were, they’d have found it by now. They wanted to, we all want them to. We all want answers for why so many children are developing Autism and its related disorders. But this isn’t it. What they have done though, is proven (again, with science) that there is no reason to not vaccinate your child, and not doing so is putting your child, and everyone else at a crazy, terrible risk.

So, yes, I didn’t vaccinate my son. Yes, I am really sorry about that. I regret it. I have potentially contributed to bringing back diseases that were almost non-existent, but are now popping up in clusters at Disneyland and the NHL.

Fifteen years ago I made a decision based on facts and science that has since been dis proven. I do not understand what parents are basing their decision on now. If I am basing this on the same smug reason I brag about canning my own beets, then I am making a horrible choice, and need to get my head out of my ass.

Good news is, it’s not too late. You can go today and correct this mistake. Your doctor won’t judge you, won’t scold you, and you don’t even have to admit you’ve made a mistake. Just go get your children vaccinated.  It’s time to put a stop this major medical fuck up.

PS. There are thousands of hard core facts proving that vaccines save lives. I didn’t get into the details, because if you are pro vaccine, you know this. If you are anti vaccine, you will find all the articles you want to support your claims. NONE of these are by scientists or doctors, but you will find them, and probably argue them. But please stop, people are going to die because we are behaving like spoiled privileged a-holes.

(This post originally ran on Junction Mess.)

About the author: Tara is a mom to two boys. She finds humour in all things, even where there shouldn’t be any. She also goes from zero to rage in a mere seconds.  Lately Tara finds herself sitting and staring. You can find her here on Twitter, Instagram/u>, Facebook and her Blog, Junctionmess.