Vaccination: A Conflict of Interests – One mothers decision to not vaccinate and why.

June 2, 2012

Why have I chosen not to vaccinate the little boy that I carried close to my heart? It certainly is not because I am unintelligent; it is not because I do not love and desire to protect my child; and it is not because I am a bad parent. In fact, quite the opposite; I will share with you my background only because I feel that it helps people who do not know me understand that I am not a crazy fanatical, uneducated mother. I am a registered nurse who has both specified education and experience in pediatrics. I love my little boy more than anything and just like any good mother, whether they choose to vaccinate or not, I would do anything to protect him from harm.

I also would like to preface my opinion with this statement: I do not think that mothers who vaccinate are bad mothers; I think they are concerned and loving mothers who are doing what is best for THEIR child. I would never tell a mother she shouldn’t have her child vaccinated; or that her decision makes her irresponsible. I believe that what is right for one family and child may not be for another. With that said, here are a few of the reasons I have chosen to withhold vaccinations from my child.

1) I do not feel that the ingredients found in vaccines are safe; some of the harmful chemicals in vaccines are:

*Formaldehyde– which is commonly used to embalm corpses and is a known carcinogen (capable of causing cancer)

*Thiomersal, a derivative of mercury which is a toxic heavy metal

*Aluminium phosphate – toxic

*Phenol (carbolic acid)

*Alum (a preservative)

*Acetone which is a volatile solvent used in fingernail polish remover.

*Vaccines also contain foreign proteins such as chick embryo, calf serum, rabbit brain tissue and monkey kidney cells. These foreign proteins can trigger numerous allergic and inflammatory reactions and can produce anaphylactic shock in some infants.

Clearly, these ingredients cause me great concern, because while I am extremely cautious as to what I expose Peyton to, in regards to his diet, it seems contradictory that I would not be concerned about what I am allowing people to inject directly into his little, vulnerable body. Especially when some of the ingredients are cancer causing. Granted, the FDA states that the amounts injected into our children are safe; but quite frankly, I don’t want to put ANY known toxic substance into my little one. In addition, those amounts are safe for ‘most’ children… but what about the exceptions. What if my son was in the exception? Then the story hits home… it becomes personal… it becomes detrimental and maybe deadly.

2) I feel that Peyton is not going to be exposed to illicit sex or drugs at this time (considering he was only hours old when they encouraged vaccination)… which is how Hepatitis B is commonly contracted.

3) Autism is at an all-time high. Now, I know that the CDC has said there are no links between vaccines and autism… but I did my homework on this one (I looked at research studies not just from the US) and for me, I felt that there was a link and the risk was too high. Here is a website that gives a lot of scientific articles with detailed research about how autism and vaccines have paralleled one another. http://thinktwice.com/s_autism.htm.

I find it quite interesting that autism was very rare until 1991, when vaccine prevalence increased. “Cases of autism in the U.S. have now increased by over 2700 percent since 1991, which is when vaccines for children doubled, and the number of immunizations is only increasing. Just one in 2,500 children were diagnosed with autism before 1991, whereas one in 91 children now have the disease, up from one in 150 just six years ago” -Prison Planet (http://www.prisonplanet.com/autism-explodes-as-childhood-vaccines-increase.html) The statistics are now higher- I think it is somewhere in the range in 1 in 50 boys and 1 in 80 girls (I need to look into those stats a little more) have autism.

4) In addition, not that I believe in government conspiracy but IF the government did know and admit that vaccines caused autism the backlash from such a disclosure would be devastating. Can you image the law suits?! The government pretty much requires these vaccinations to be given… if all of the sudden they announced that their requirements were causing autism- to put it lightly, crap would hit the fan. Just something to think about…

5) In my humble opinion, there is a significant link between vaccines and SIDS- Here is an incredibly lengthy but in-depth study regarding the link between the two: http://www.consumerhealth.org/articles/display.cfm?ID=19990705002005 I find it interesting that all through the years babies were put to sleep on their bellies (it helps with preventing flat head and helps with their spinal development) and then all of the sudden this disease is rampant.

6) The final straw for me was that a friend of mine had a little girl several years ago. The little girl’s name was Katie… my friend has told me on numerous occasions that she had a beautiful, normal little girl. There were no signs of ANY issues. My friend chose to have Katie vaccinated and she said that the days following her vaccinations her little girl began to slip away from her. She acted as though she were in a fog. She said it was the strangest thing. Years later, Katie has been diagnosed with a form of autism. But my friend said she has no doubt what happened… she said the vaccine took her little girl’s mind from her.

Of course there is no scientific proof of that happening, but I have read enough stories about similar situations that it’s just too scary for me. I never want to look into Peyton’s eyes and feel like I am losing him.

I don’t share any of this to scare you… thousands of babies are born and vaccinated each year with NO obvious issues whatsoever… my mother vaccinated me. But, after extensive research, I will not be vaccinating my child. Once again, not because I do not love him… but because, for US and our family, this is the best decision,

I understand that I am taking a risk with my son… but when I think of vaccines I want to think of prevention. Prevention of disease AND prevention of any side effects that could be caused from vaccines. I do not feel that vaccines offer absolute prevention. Genes mutate… viruses regenerate…. there is always going to be a risk. For example, people get the flu vaccine and think they will prevent the flu….when the reality is that there are thousands of strains of flu and the flu vaccine only ‘prevents’ against a few heavy strains. People still die from the flu; people that were vaccinated die from the flu. I’d rather the natural risk of disease be a threat to my child then something foreign that is injected into his little body.

In addition, many of these horrible diseases that we are attempting to ‘prevent’ by means of vaccines were experienced during times when we were not as educated on sanitation; washing our hands, etc… With proper sanitation, a great deal of disease is stopped, including many of the diseases we currently vaccinate against. Also, many people forget the power of our incredibly strong immune system when we are feeding our bodies responsibly with the fruits and vegetables we should be getting, rather than the fast food too many Americans turn to for their nourishment.

Saying all of that, I love the concept of vaccination which is prevention… but for me, the prevention they offer is not developed to the point where I feel comfortable exposing my child. I love him… I truly do. I hate when pro-vaccinating parents act like I am an irresponsible and calloused person. I’m not… I just, like everyone else, am trying to make the best decision for my child.

I don’t believe that not vaccinating Peyton is putting other children at risk. If you are a believer in vaccination, then your child is vaccinated and should be protected. I have heard and seen some of the most hateful, intolerant and bigoted responses to this topic…including the fact that I should have to take my child to a separate pediatrician because of my choice. Here’s my perspective on that. I will gladly take Peyton to a Dr. specializing in not vaccinated patients when they become available, but until then my unvaccinated child has to be exposed to your vaccinated one. Perhaps I am the one who should be concerned.

To those of you who choose to vaccinate; you are amazing Moms. I respect your decision and I have no doubt that what you are doing is what is best for YOUR child. Saying that, please understand that whether or not you agree with me, I love my little boy more than anyone else in the world… and I am doing what is best for HIM. I do not share my input to promote debate, but rather… to ideally promote understanding that decisions regarding our health and the health of our children should be respected and left in the hands of those who love them the most- the mamas and the papas. Blessings!

Author Quick Bio:

Heidi is a wife and mom of 1 who has experience as an RN in pediatrics as well as community health nursing with the Maryland Health Department. She has done research on vaccinations for both her roles. We asked for her to share her process for making the decision not to vaccinate her son.