Suppose you and your partner had a disagreement about how to raise your child. It would be wise to ask advice from others who have been through the same situation.

Now suppose you’re opposed to vaccinating your child. Your partner is adamantly on the side of science. Neither of you is willing to budge.

And then you ask Reddit for advice.

That’s what one very foolish pregnant mother did…

I was raised by a mother in the alternative/natural healthcare field, and am currently earning my degree in holistic health sciences to do similar work myself. Both my mother and I have done enough research (in her case, two decades) to be extremely concerned with the ingredients and side effects involved with childhood vaccinations. My partner has been on board with all of this since day one. He is still very concerned with an organic diet and all the rest. But now suddenly he comes out with thinking that we should vaccinate the baby. That the CDC, FDA, and EPA are well-meaning, benevolent organisations, and therefore their recommended vaccination schedule has everything to do with safe procedures and nothing to do with corporate payoffs. I am not here to start the vaccination debate. You do not have to share my views. Their details are irrelevant and I am merely sharing them to share my struggle with the fact that my co-parent no longer shares them.

Her plea is simple: She’s not here to argue vaccine efficacy. She just wants to know how to handle a dispute with her husband.

But no one was going to let her off the hook that easily. Here’s just a sampling of the fantastic comments:

I’m 2 months away from being an MD and work with actual medical professionals who practice evidence based medicine with data from unbiased scientific studies. I cannot believe there’s a degree in holistic medicine, I thought Google was that degree. I’m trying not to be harsh but I think what you’re doing is child endangerment. … So you have a degree in a made up field and you call yourself a health care professional. Great. Vaccinate your damn kid. I live in Indiana, and there have been ~25 cases of mumps thanks to people like you who undermine herd immunity. … Nobody here is going to help you act against the best interests of your child, sorry. … You can’t ask your partner to respect your wishes to deliberately put your child and other people’s children at risk. If you refuse to acquiesce on this issue, the MOST reasonable course of action is for your partner to leave you and seek full custody of your child or children.

But my favorite response has to be this one, after the mother explains why she’s refusing vaccines:

The mother later updated her post, saying she would not be returning to Reddit because everyone was being hateful and intolerant of her views.

Needless to say, she won’t be missed. But let’s hope a pediatrician (or her husband) eventually gets through to her.

(Image via Shutterstock)



