The Great Debate (well at least one of them)-WARNING- a VERY LONG post

Recently there has been question of the possible Chicken Pox virus going through our circle of friend’s kids and along with it I am faced with having to defend my position on choosing to not vaccinate my kids (I’m officially announcing it on our blog- what is your initial reaction???). It’s not just the Chicken Pox that I am choosing not to give them but also most all the childhood illnesses that they routinely get vaccinated against. (I know, sacrilegious right!?!?!) It’s amazing how quickly one seems to offend and turn off friends and other individuals when you say that you choose not to vaccinate. In some ways it’s like people now view my kids as “contaminated” and that they potentially pose a risk to other’s kids because of this choice. I feel that I need to share a small bit of why I have come to this conclusion. I preface all of this by saying that I in no way, shape, or form, look down upon anyone else’s decision to vaccinate or not. I, like all moms, am only trying to do what I think is best for my girls. I also admit that I am still learning and my mind is not totally made up on how I feel about vaccines. As I learn more, there is a chance that I will change my views, but at this point I am erring on the side of caution and to wait. I only ask that you at least have an open mind and seek to educate yourself on what way is best for your family. BTW, this will be a long post and will not even closely include all of the information that has been written on this subject.


I have only come to this decision within the last year. Being from a medical background, where vaccines do play an important role, I was 100% for them and totally thought other’s that chose to not vaccinate were foolish and playing a risky game. I still believe that vaccines in veterinary medicine are needed, however I feel we way over vaccinate- but that is another, long, blog post….. I began feeling uncertainty about the vaccines when Morganne hit about 18 months old. Let’s call it a gut feeling, but maybe it was God’s nudging too. So, when Kaelynn was born, I already knew I at least wanted to do a delayed vaccine schedule and space everything out. It wasn’t until Kaelynn was about 9 months old that I felt that my “gut” was truly telling me to stop vaccinating all together (at least for now) after I had done only a small amount of research. Most doctors just “do vaccines”. I’m guessing very little to none of you reading this were explained the why’s and possible side effects of the vaccines that your kids got when they were little. If you did, then you have an incredible doctor. Even our GP, who I adore, just “did” the vaccines. I’m at least grateful she is open to my ideas and appreciates my concerns and if not supports, at least accepts, my decision to not vaccinate at this time. To try and keep this blog post as short as possible (though it’s going to be VERY LONG regardless), I’m just going to list some of the reasons I choose not to vaccinate or my thoughts on the situation. Remember, I’m still researching and there is a TON of information out there.

• First off, there is no one “true” right way. Both sides can not prove which side is “healthier” or “safer” at this time. With that being said, and that our own family doctor (who routinely vaccinates following the CDC guidelines) also admits that she can’t prove my doubts wrong, I’m more apt to stay away from something certain that could bring negative side effects (vaccines) instead of take the chance that my kids could get an illness, in which they would most likely survive just fine and develop natural immunity to. Also, most of the childhood diseases that we vaccinate against (i.e. Chicken pox, measles, rubella, mumps, diphtheria, etc.), though can have a small risk of severe side effects (which so can taking Tylenol) are mostly benign and they survive just fine after a week or so of feeling crummy. (Educate yourself on these diseases and you decide the risk.)

• “Vaccines cured Polio”- well maybe not. Studies show (look them up) that as with all virus courses, Polio was possibly dying itself out, at the same time the vaccine was introduced. So, did the vaccines actually stop Polio, or did it die out naturally? You’ll have to see the graphs to truly appreciate this.

• Vaccines have side effects. Not only do you have the immediate ones such as fever, injection site reactions, vomiting and diarrhea, not to mention the more severe immediate ones like seizures, anaphylactic reaction and death (read the vaccine information), but they could potentially have long term side effects too. There is a lot of thought that auto-immune reactions are linked with vaccines, as well as thyroid disorders, childhood diabetes, allergic reactions, and of course mental/behavioral disorders (though I know Autism has been debunked, it still could possibly be linked, we just don’t know it yet). Relating side effects to vaccines has been tough, and though they may be or not be linked, most parent’s and doctors miss the possible connection.

• Unlike with medications, we use the same dose of vaccine no matter how small or big the patient. A 2 month old premie, gets the same vaccine dose as a regular baby, a child, and an adult. How does this seem right when the immune system isn’t fully developed until around age 12 years? Actually the Dtap (child) and dtap (adult) vaccines are are the same virus’, but the “D” in the child’s version means that it is a higher strength version. Also, why do kids need the Dtap vaccine at 2 mos, 4 mos, 6 mos, 15 mos, and 5 years, when adults only need it every 10 years?

• In 1950, when vaccines really hit the seen most kids received around 12 vaccines by age 6. In 1982, when I was born, we received around 23 vaccines by age 6. Today, by age 6, they receive 47 (including the flu shot only once). Most of these are by the age of 3. This does not count amount of shots they get, it’s vaccines, which are routinely combined within one injection. Don’t believe me, check out the rec’d CDC vaccine schedule at http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/recs/schedules/downloads/child/0-6yrs-schedule-pr.pdf

This just seems like a lot for their immature immune systems to take on all at once. Also, with this and the effect on the immune system, how “natural” is it that a person is exposed to 8 major virus’ at one time? Like at the visit where they get 8 vaccines at one time- at 2 MONTHS OLD!?!?!?!

• Vaccines routinely include preservatives such as Formaldehyde (which is a known carcinogen), MSG (which my father, if given a vaccine with this in it, could have a severe anaphylactic reaction, as well as many unsuspecting individuals out there. We try not to eat the stuff, I sure don’t want it injected in me.), 2-phenoxyethanol (which is in antifreeze, solvents, detergents and emulsifiers, and crosses the blood brain barrier), among many others. Not to mention Thimerosal (Mercury) which is still in Heb B and the annual flu shots!!!

• Vaccines such as the MMR and the Chicken Pox vaccine also include aborted fetal tissue which includes DNA and protein. Check out the ingredients list on the Varicella vaccine Verivax website http://www.merck.com/product/usa/pi_circulars/v/varivax/varivax_ppi.pdf. It includes MRC-5 which is an aborted 14 week old male fetal lung tissue. There is also WI-38 in some vaccines which is 3 month old female fetal lung tissue. As a mom and a Christian this is just hard to swallow, not to mention knowing that it is injected into my daughters.

• Lastly, and to what I think is most important in my doubts, is the effectiveness of long term immunity health from vaccines. Scientists truly don’t know how long vaccine immunity lasts. So, take the Chicken Pox vaccine, given at 2 years old, they now recommend a booster sometime in middle school. There is no way of knowing if the vaccine immunity will last into adulthood, where getting Chicken Pox is then potentially life threatening. We have seen life time immunity to those of us that got it naturally, however, and when our immune systems are “naturally boostered” when we get exposed to the virus at different times during our life. Also, along this line, no vaccine is 100%. They only estimate on average they are 70-80% effective which means even though your child is vaccinated, they could still get, and pass along the virus.

This list is by far all of the doubting factors that I have read and continue to learn about. I don’t like the thought that in 20-30 years, after my children’s generation of getting nearly 50 vaccines by the age of 6, we might start seeing the potential side effects of this way of thinking. I don’t underestimate the seriousness of these diseases that we are trying to prevent (though I also don’t think that financial gain isn’t also part of the equation- more on that maybe later), but I also worry about the side effects that we have not seen yet. Vaccines, and the diseases they are supposed to prevent, scare me. I hope that if you took the time to read this long blog post you will at least decide to do some research yourself and make an educated decision. It’s not something to take lightly. Take charge of your health and that of your children’s. God only gave us this one chance on Earth.

BTW, I hope I have not "offended" anyone.