To Vaccinate or Not to Vaccinate ... that is the question...

We have chosen not to vaccinate our children. To some that is the greatest sin I could ever commit and others commend us for sticking to our guns about this subject. I must tell you that there are days when I struggle with the decision because I worry what I am going to do when it is time for the kids to go to school, but I will cross that bridge when I get there.

I had done some reading provided by my holistic doctor, Dr. Renee Welhouse, who not only helped me to lose close to 100 pounds and who I believe is the whole reason after 7 years of infertility made it possible for me to have children. I have a lot of faith and trust in this woman and so I listened to what she had to say to me about this subject. My mother-in-law was very against vaccinations and so I listened to what she had to say. Then Don and I discussed it and we decided that at this time we were not willing to take the risk and putting our children in harms way of vaccines that contain harmful levels of mercury. We believe that there is a connection of autism to the levels of thimerosal and we don't wish to play that game of roulette with the children that we waited so long to have.

A few months back the Today show did a week long segment on autism in America. I was VERY disappointed in this show as they literally spent less than 5 minutes that there was even a possiblility of the a link between vaccines and autism. I was thinking the whole time... are people in denial or do they just not want to adress the subject. However, yesterday, FINALLY there was a true debate about this subject on Meet the Press. David Kirby, the author of Evidence of Harm: Mercury in Vaccines and the Autism Epidemic: A Medical Controversy and Dr. Harvey Fineberg, president of The Institute of Medicine (IOM) discussed the subject of mercury in vaccines at length and I am happy to say I still think that we have made the right decision. Since the 1980 when 1 in every 10,000 chilren were diagnosed with autism to 2003 the ratio was 1 in every 166, and yes there might be more forms of this neuological condition but I don't care, 1 in every 166 is way too much for me.

I felt, as did others, whom I have talked to since yesterdays show that Dr. Fineberg was on the defensive the whole time. He did little to recognize what parents had said about the changes in their childrem from the first year of life to the second and the change in the child after the vaccinations. I was shocked to also learn that over 50% of the vaccine itself thimerasol, which is over 60% more than the legal levels a child should be exposed to. What if your child is one of those 166 whose body cannot break down the mercury? Could your child become autistic? It is not a chance I am willing to take. Not at this time.

At the end of yesterday's MTP Tim Russert stated that as of 2003 thimerasol is no longer in chilren vaccines but it might be contained in other vaccinations, such as the flu vaccine, so parents could start to worry less, but it was also stated that it would take a few years to find out if this really might have been the link to autism. It seems to me the medical community doesn't want to do the research to find out if this was the link. I think there are many people worried if they admit that there was a link they will be sued and all that goes with lying to the American publice for 30 some odd years.

Mr. Kirby does say in the forward of the book that he does not recommend not vaccinating your children, that we have come a long way and the diseases that we vaccinate against are all diseases that killed children, but I don't know that I am ready to jump on that band wagon yet. I have been reading in the past day many writings of parents whose children have autism and they truly believe it was contracted as a result of the vaccines. I will take my chance. I don't think the odds of my child getting the mumps, measles or rubella and/or dying from them are as great as the odds of them contracting autism.

I will wait for the results of any research that is done in the next few years and if they can prove to me there is no link then they can shoot my kids in the arm with vaccines, until then I will continue to bug my sister-in-law for the letter she can get her hands on from an attorney that gives me the right to send my kids to public school even though they have not been vaccinated.