There are a lot of loud, angry voices in the vaccine debate. If you are fully convinced that vaccines do more harm than good, this post isn’t for you (and I have zero desire to engage in a debate on this issue). This is for the parent out there who is struggling with a little shadow of doubt. I have chosen to share my perspective on the issue and my story is one of a changed mind. I had concerns and fears and delayed vaccinations for one of my kids, but eventually my concerns were answered thoroughly enough that I have become an advocate for vaccinations. I know what it’s like to be a skeptic, to doubt my doctor and worry about what would happen to my child if I followed the conventional recommendations. And I know what it’s like to sheepishly come to the conclusion that I was listening to the wrong voices and that it was time to do what was best not only for my kids, but for the many kids who didn’t have the ability to make a vaccination decision.
In light of the Disneyland measles situation, I just want to say that it’s okay to change your mind.
Photo by Rebecca Tredway Photography
I want to be a quiet voice that says it’s okay to rethink your original conclusions when you see the reality of measles in your town (like it is in mine). It doesn’t mean you have to turn in your Natural Mom card if you decide to take your kids in for their shots. You can still eat organic, be vegetarians, cloth diaper, baby wear, and shun the microwave and dishwasher for your plastics, but get your children fully vaccinated. Don’t let shame or embarrassment keep you from taking in your older kids to get the MMR shot you originally feared would give them autism. You waited, you weighed the risks and now you see that a long dead disease actually isn’t dead. The information has changed. It is okay for you to respond differently now than you did before.
Listen, I’m okay if you don’t even want to tell anyone. You don’t have to post a picture of your child at the pediatrician’s office. You don’t have to now love “Big Pharma” or run to get antibiotics at the next hint of a cold. Your friends and family don’t need to know what you’ve decided in order for the vaccines to be effective. They work in spite of our doubts or shame or conflicted feelings.
Maybe you feel like your kids are strong enough to handle measles just fine. But my three month-old baby isn’t strong enough. Kids battling cancer aren’t strong enough. Kids who are on immune suppressing drugs for organ transplants aren’t strong enough. Kids with weakened lungs because they were born prematurely or who have muscle issues that make clearing their lungs difficult aren’t strong enough. I don’t just have my kids (and myself) vaccinated because it is best for them, but because it is best for your kids, too. It is best for the weakest and most vulnerable members of our society. It is an act of love for people I will never meet, but who share our space at the library and the grocery store and at school.
If you decide to get yourself and your kids vaccinated in spite of your skepticism, here’s my agreement with you— I will keep reading the science. As the debate develops, I will keep myself informed. I will not close my eyes to new information. Vaccinations are the best option we have right now, but I do not rule out the possibility that things could change. I specifically read articles I think may challenge my opinion and understanding. I will continue to ask hard questions. I will not assume what we know now is everything there is to know.
Maybe this is simplistic of me or entirely heretical, but I think vaccines were God’s idea. He created our bodies with the amazing ability to learn how to fight diseases without having to suffer the full ramifications of those diseases. I imagine God may have been joyful at the development of the polio vaccine— to know disease would be prevented and suffering would be eliminated in this area. I see vaccines as an act of redemption, a pushing back against the evil that is in this world. I’m sure that’s over spiritualizing the issue, but I believe God cares about our bodies, cares about sick children, and is still in the business of healing. . . and couldn’t healing come in the form of preventing?
I’m not qualified to explain the science. I don’t speak on behalf of your doctor, your mother-in-law, your nosey neighbor or the vaccine manufacturers. I’m not here to yell or condemn. I’m just speaking to you as one mom to another. I want to say that it’s okay to rethink things. It’s okay to reconsider. It’s okay to change your mind. I won’t tell anybody.
2 Comments
Leave a reply →