Monday, January 12, 2009

Saying NO to Vaccinations ... At Any Age!

Neither of my sons were vaccinated throughout their elementary and high school years (we homeschooled some of those years, but not all, so we did deal with government schools and the pretense that vaccinations are mandatory)

My husband and I simply signed a form that indicated our decision to not have our sons vacinated was religious based.

College was a bit more difficult ... the university (state funded) “insisted” my sons get their MMR vaccinations. Both boys were over 18 at the time, so they were legally/personally able to make their own choice on the matter (even tho I expressed my disapproval and concern). My oldest son’s exposure to the vaccine went without incident. My youngest son’s story was quite different (and confirmed my fears about vaccines in general). He become VERY ill - extremely high fever, the worst headaches he had ever experienced, nausea, etc... - a trip to the ER followed by several doctors visits confirmed his exposure to the vaccine played a significant part in triggering a virus that was possibly laying dormant in his system (or introducing it?) and he was diagnosed with mononucleosis - a similar strain of virus as measles, meningitis, etc. He missed 2 weeks of classes and took several months to really get back on his feet (btw, he still suffers from viral infections much more frequently than the average person).

Later, the university, in its infinite wisdom, decided that despite my son’s initial serious reaction to the first round of the MMR vaccine, he needed to follow up with a second round which was "required" of all students. We were able (at first) to get a medical exemption as mononucleosis had been confirmed via my son’s blood work and our doctor felt comfortable writing a letter stating that “at this time vaccinations were contraindicated”.

The school left no stone un-turned, however, and picked up on the “at this time”. They kept pushing for our doctor to give exact dates as to when he could/could not receive the vaccination, so we began to look for other solutions - and went back to the religious exemption idea. However, we were told that to claim a religious exemption - to satisfy the state - my son had to verify that he was attending a church were such a belief was in fact part of the church's practice/doctrine. He was not, so that option was unavailable to us.

Since we were convinced that another round of the MMR vaccination would seriously affect my son’s health AGAIN - there was no choice but to keep looking for ways to successfully opt out. After researching the subject via the internet, I found that a “PERSONAL religious exemption” was different than a religious exemption ... and so my son took that route, writing the following letter to the university:

"After much thought, reflection and meditation, my personal religious beliefs prohibit the injection of foreign substances into my body. Therefore, owing to the Knowledge that The Higher Power which created us all, rejects this same notion of foreign substances entering into the body, I object to the following vaccinations, including but not limited to, DTaP\DTP, HepB, Hib, MMR, Polio, Varicella, and MCV4. Therefore I am filing this personal religious exemption in accordance with: TITLE 77: PUBLIC HEALTH CHAPTER I: DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC HEALTH SUBCHAPTER k: COMMUNICABLE DISEASE CONTROL AND IMMUNIZATIONS PART 694 COLLEGE IMMUNIZATION CODE SECTION 694.210 RELIGIOUS EXEMPTION”

The university finally backed off.

For more info on vaccinations visit: http://www.vaccineawareness.org/aboutIVAC.htm and http://www.thenhf.com/vaccinations.html

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

It's sad that you had to go to so much trouble to opt out. It should be a parent's right or an individual's right to opt out, without all this rigamorole.

Veda said...

Goodonya for spreading the message!!! :)

Jan Stover said...

Exactly Anonymous ... it is sad and not only are parents' rights being challenged when it comes to vaccinations, so is the whole concept of parental responsibility.

Parenting can be a tall order and in many cases one that requires people to go above and beyond the practice of automatically accepting what authority (or the masses) say is right or good.

Honoring our responsibilities to our children is paramount!

Birth Journeys said...

Thank you for sharing your story. I am sorry for what happened to your son and congratulate you on finding a way out! I moved to the US 18 months ago and I have my interview for to get green cards for myself and my two children next week...It's crazy what I had to go through to avoid vaccination so far and I doubt the struggle is over..!

Jan Stover said...

Veda ... right back atcha. Your efforts to spread the message "educate before you vaccinate" are worth applauding!

Jan Stover said...

Genevieve ... thanks for making us aware of the vaccination issue in regards to immigration. Please keep us posted on your situation and best of luck!

Anonymous said...

Thanks for sharing this vaccination story. We do a selective and delayed vaccination schedule, and I always wonder what I would do if we ended up sending our kids to a public school, as our state does not have a philosophical exemption either. Good for you for not giving up and giving in.

SpiritualBeings said...

I had my older son vaccinated, but i was naive and did not know any better. 7yrs later my second son was born. I still did not know any better but he only had his birth vaccine. Instead of the ffg vaccines I treated him homeopathically and he is the healthier baby compare to my older son. I am not sure about the rules on vaccination here in South Africa, but I homescool the kids so I dont think anyone is going to come knocking on my door anytime soon. LOL. But if the health department does complain, I have my homeopathic doctor to back me up. But I think we live in a "Black" Country and here "Muti" (herbal medicine) is widely used by the natives of this country.