Anytime we, as parents, make a decision that we believe is in the best interest of our children, and it comes under fire, there is a protective irritation that rises up! And, honestly, both sides of the argument have judgmental and extreme supporters who can be offensive at times. My goal is to simply explain my transformation without any offense of judgement toward parents who have chosen differently.
It started out very slowly. My oldest two children are almost entirely vaccinated. When Ezra (#2) was born, we refused the Hepatitis B shot they give newborns in the hospital (questioning the need to vaccinate a newborn against a sexually transmitted disease) and were surprised at the fight we had to put up to stop it from happening. When Joel (#3) was at the age to get the Chicken Pox vaccine, I faced yet another battle when I refused that one. I couldn't understand why there was a vaccine against a common and relatively benign childhood illness. Yes, I understand that it is no fun to see our children sick, but I also don't see the need to try to live in an entirely sterile, germ and illness-free world. It's not realistic, and neither do I believe that it is actually healthy! I believe the immune system is wonderfully designed by God to grow strong naturally.
When his pediatrician gave me a long, dramatic lecture about the horrible dangers of Chicken Pox and why it was negligent of me to not vaccinate my child against it, her strong reaction started to make me wonder. (This was the same pediatrician who, a few months later, told me I would have to wean Joel when he got to be a year old. We stopped seeing her after that, needless to say!) At that point, I started really looking into the vaccine issue.
I knew a few people in real life who didn't vaccinate, as well as friends on-line. As I mentioned before, up until that point, I thought they were foolish not to be vaccinating! But many of them said, "Do the research and see what you find." I had to admit - I hadn't done the research. I read the fact sheets that my pediatrician handed out at each appointment, but that was it. So I really had no argument to support my choice, based on my own research.
At first, the research was really difficult. Many anti-vaccination websites are very extreme - exaggerating claims and playing on fear. That bugged me a lot, because I wanted facts, not emotionally-driven half-truths. So I decided to research where I felt the information would be more helpful in proving my position in choosing to vaccinate - the website of CDC itself. Ironically, the one place I went to try to support my decision is the one place that ended up changing my mind!
The CDC is very open - it has pages that list each ingredient of each vaccine produced by each manufacturer. In my years of motherhood, (and especially having an allergy-stricken child) I had become a very careful food-label reader. I tried to avoid as many artificial ingredients as possible - MSG, hydrogenated oils, high fructose corn syrup, artificial sweeteners, and so on. However, it had never once occurred to me to look into what I was allowing to be injected into my childrens' bodies! When I came across this list, and this list... my heart sank.
Formaldehyde? Ethylene glycol (the poisonous stuff in anti-freeze!)? Mouse serum? Monkey Kidney Tissue? MRC-5 (cells from tissue of an aborted fetus?!)
These are all things I would not ever, ever introduce to my children's diet... why was I allowing them to be injected directly into their bloodstream, bypassing the protective digestive system all together?
At that point, after discussing it in depth with my husband and praying about it, we decided to hold off on vaccines for a time being. When Nathan (#4) was born, I believed we would just "selectively" vaccinate - meaning, choose the ones we thought the risk of the disease outweighed the risk of the vaccine. A wonderful, very centered book on this topic is "The Vaccine Book" by Dr. Robert Sears (Dr. William Sears' son). It discusses every vaccine on the market today, it's risks, and the chance of catching along with the risks of each disease the vaccines are for.
We continued to discuss, and to wait... and now, 6 years later, with three children who have been completely not vaccinated, I've had to admit to myself - I'm am not a delayed vaccinator, nor a selective one - I am a non-vaccinator. That does not mean I will never, ever vaccinate, or that I think we should all live in hippy communes and run around naked! No, I am an average parent, prayerfully trying to make the best decisions for my children that I can, as I know most every other parent out there is, too!
You see, I do believe that vaccines are somewhat effective. I don't enter into the argument that swirls around that line of thinking, because I don't consider myself knowledgeable enough to have a firm opinion. But I also believe that adding all of those extra things into a child's body just can't be good, especially at a time when their own immune systems are trying hard to develop and their brains are growing tremendously. I believe in the wonder of breastmilk and it's protective properties that God made it to have. I believe in limiting a baby's exposure to lots and lots of other people (ie. daycare and nursery situations). I believe in good nutrition for mama and baby, during pregnancy, nursing and weaning.
I know that by not vaccinating, I am putting my child at risk for a vaccine-preventable disease. However, I also fully believe that when I was choosing to vaccinate, I was also putting my children at risk for numerous other problems, some more life-threatening than the disease they were trying to prevent. I am concerned by the actions of the pharmaceutical companies - especially after reading about the repeated failures and recalls of the rotavirus vaccine, as well as the absurd amounts of complaints against the HPV vaccine. I believe they are marketing vaccines too quickly, with too little testing, and that we, as the public, are basically the lab guinea pigs in many cases. I know several people whose children have suffered vaccine-related injuries, and it is heartbreaking. I also know several adults who have had adverse reactions to vaccines (most people I know will admit that the flu vaccine is ineffective or even made them sick! Why wouldn't that carry over to other vaccines?).
I know this turned into a very long post, and if you've made it all the way to the end, I applaud you! Thank you for taking the time to read my experience and how we got from there to here. I would love to hear your thoughts and experiences, but please remember to keep things respectful, as I hope I have done.
(Oh, and for the record - 3 of my children have had the chicken pox. One of whom had been vaccinated against it! And all are perfectly fine, despite the doomsday prophecies of that pediatrician. In fact, I hope that the rest who have been born since then are able to get natural exposure somewhere in their childhood, as well, to assure lifelong immunity - which the vaccine does not give.).
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4 comments:
I have The Vaccine Book checked out from the library right now. I can't say I will not vaccinate, but I can say for sure (without even having started the book) that we will vaccinate differently this time. It is insane what all they want to put in those tiny bodies. My other 2 are completely vaccinated and we have been VERY lucky to have no lasting effects. Not risking it again.
My 4 oldest are vaccinated 3 little ones have not had any. I started questioning the decision after being pushed into the Hep B and then the growing number and combinations of shots seemed to be growing by leaps and bounds. Like you I decided to do my own research and did not like what I found. People think that those that don't vaccinate do it out of a fear of autism, but there are many other reasons. SIDS, increase in childhood cancers, diabetes, allergies, and other childhood illnesses have all been linked to vaccines. Every parent has to make the decision they feel is best for their own family, but I do urge parents to do their own research on vaccines before they make their decision.
I had the chicken pox for two weeks when I was in daycare. No malice done. When I was pregnant with Moriah, I got Shingles! (Same virus, manifested differently) I was 26, pregnant with Shingles! I thought I lost my mind!
J and I have mentioned to each other about whether or not to vaccinate, but we've not done any research and have had no reason, until now, to reject some of these harmful, 'beneficial' treatments.
My story is similar to yours. My oldest two were fully vaccinated as babies, though they never got their "school" vaccines when they turned 5. My third child was partially vaccinated until I stopped his shots around 9 months...and my youngest 2 are not vaccinated at all. I have done so much research and feel it is best for our family. Have you ever seen the movie "The Greater Good" ? It is a documentary following 3-4 families and how vaccines have affected them.
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