Why I Chose NOT to Vaccinate My Daughter

When my little girl was born, I chose not to have her injected - with anything. No vaccines, no Vitamin K, nothing

Is it because I'm dumb/ignorant/can't be bothered/a neglectful mother..? What person in their right mind takes such risks?

I'll tell you why.

Long before she was born, I did some research into the newborn Hep B vaccine, and learnt that it contains (among other things) aluminium (a neurotoxin), formaldehyde (a known carcinogen, meaning it causes cancer), and cultured in genetically-engineered yeasts.

I'm sorry, but these ingredients have no business being injected in newborn babies, whose blood-brain barrier is still incomplete!!

Then I did some research on Hepatitis B...and learnt that it is contracted by either a.) sexual contact, b.)sharing needles or c.) from an infected mother to child during birth.

Ummm....?? Why on earth would I inject my child with known poisons, when the chances of her contracting such an illness are less than miniscule?

Known poisons versus a slight possibility - who's doing the risk versus benefit, here?!

During our two days in hospital, all the midwives commented on what a peaceful baby she was. There was no screaming or squalling or fussing. Meanwhile, the corridors were filled with babies howling. I thought nothing of this - you come to expect that from a maternity ward at 3am in the morning - but then, my husband made a comment: "Maybe our daughter is so peaceful, because she hasn't been injected with poisons?"

After that, every time I heard a baby howling, or high-pitched screaming....I wondered. And my heart nearly broke with the wondering...What if it was? What if those tiny bodies were already overloaded with poisons and struggling? What were we doing to our precious little babies?

(Coincidentally, I've since read about the side effects of the Hep B vaccine, one being listed as: "High-pitched crying".)

My daughter hasn't had her two-month vaccines, either. Nor do I plan on giving her any in the future.

She gets "vaccinated" every time I breast-feed her...

The Australian government has recently passed a law (very quietly too, I might add) that the parents of children who are not fully vaccinated will not receive the Family Tax Benefit Supplement at the end of the financial year.

I'm sorry, but this is a conscientious decision, and I feel right about my choice, no amount of "supplementing" is going to change my mind on it!!! No doubt, there are some parents out there who haven't vaccinated because they're too busy, or can't be bothered, but I bet the majority did their research and chose not to.

My middle son was vaccinated until he was four months old. He then broke out in exzema all over his little body. That was enough to make me start questioning. And I thank God that I did, because I am convinced that if I'd carried on with the vaccine schedule, my son would have been one of the tens of thousands of children damaged by vaccines. His immune system was already overloaded, because he had candida overgrowth ( I just didn't know it at the time.)

A doctor later poo-poohed and said excema was not a good enough reason to stop vaccinating - it was a minor irritation. (Ha! I bet he wouldn't call it a minor irritation, if he were the one up all night, every night, with an irritable, cranky baby...) Well, pardon me!! I don't have a medical degree, but I know enough to realise that excema is the sign of an overloaded system, unable to cope with toxins, so the body tries to push it out through the skin.

Hmmm. Maybe not so "minor" after all...

With the help of homeopathic remedies and a really good diet, we were able to get on top of the exzema, and the underlying candida infection, and my beautiful boy, with the big brown eyes began to look a picture of health.

I had to jump through hoops to get him into childcare (because of his vaccination status)...but the really ironic thing was...my unvaccinated son was the only child who did NOT get sick once while in childcare. Nope. Not even a sniffle!

There is very little research on the comparative health of vaccinated vs unvaccinated children. I doubt pharmaceutical companies would be bothered with such research, and no-one else has the money to fund it. But one group are attempting to get the data together, and so far, unvaccinated children are out-performing the vaccinated ones in every category (such as asthma, allergies, ear infection, learning delays, etc). The study is ongoing, but you can view the preliminary results here.

I'm not going to judge anyone else on the choices they make - we all do what we feel is best for our children. But as for me...I'll trust my instincts. My babies will not be injected with poisons and carcinogens.

Not on my watch, anyway.

(Update: My daughter is now 20 months old, completely unvaccinated (still) and in superb health.

She was crawling at 5 months, took her first steps at 9 months, and now at 20 months, speaks both Tongan and English - in fact, she speaks better Tongan than her almost 3 year old (Tongan) cousin. Of course, this may be just coincidence. Maybe she's a quick learner. Maybe! BUT many years ago, an old healer told me that an unvaccinated child will be fully one year ahead of his peers (developmentally) by the time he starts school...Could it be? Is it possible...???

Earlier this year, she had a bout of chicken-pox. The funny thing is, my eldest son was the first to get it. My eldest son happens to be fully vaccinated (even for chicken pox), so I just thought it was some kind of itchy rash. But then the following week, our other son (partly vaccinated) started breaking out. Our (unvaccinated) daughter was the last to get it. All of them had it fairly mild, at worst it was a few days of uncomfortable itching, and then it began to heal up, without complications or scarring.

At least I can rest assured that they are now immune for life (unlike the supposed immunity that comes from chicken-pox vaccine...)

2012: The Year of Broadening Horizens.

I’m not overly sorry to see the back of 2011, just quietly...

I think I’ll name it the “Year of Being Pushed to Breaking Point”.

Really. I don’t think it’s necessary to re-hash the whole thing. But let’s just say, that for every challenge, there were some awesome lessons learned. And I closed out the year by turning 30!

My friend asked me how I felt about turning 30. My reply:” I’m excited to turn 30, and I’m excited to see what the next decade will bring.”

According to the Hunza tribe, who regularly lived to 150 years and above (that is...until Western diet arrived..), youth was 0 – 80 years, middle age was 80 – 120 years, and old age was over 120 years.

Makes you realise how limited we are by our paradigms, when it comes to age.

Here’s to another 50 years of youth!!

Looking forward to 2012... So much to look forward to!!

In two weeks we are due to fly out, to go and spend a year in Tonga. People keep asking me: “But, what are you going to DO there?”

What if I say I’m not going to do anything whatsoever?? I’m just going to BE. (I am a human being, and not a human doing, after all...)

But......I do have a few things in mind. I’m not going to call them “goals” because my ultimate aim is to enjoy the experience, and I don’t want to spoil it with my little “to-do” list fetish...

-I want to start a vegetable garden.

- I want to learn all about the local herbal wisdom. The older Tongan ladies tell me that there are plants growing wild which can be used to treat tetanus. Also, a plant used to wash the dishes. How awesome is that? The ultimate in sustainability! (I can already identify this plant – but I don’t know the English name for it, and it also happens to grow wild around Sydney nature reserves. )

- I want to encourage the Tongan people to return to some of their old practices, for the benefit of their health, and their environment. I have not yet figured out how to go about this, without appearing like a pompous “holier-than-thou” foreigner...

(For example: Tonga has an abundant supply of coconuts, and coconut oil is THE healthiest oil for cooking. Yet many of them will walk straight past the coconut tree, to buy cheap, imported (artery-clogging) canola oil from the local Chinese corner-shop.

Another example: the Tongans once used banana leaves to wrap their food, before placing in the hangi. Now they pay to use aluminium foil, imported from overseas.

You get the picture...)

- I want to become fluent in the Tongan language.

- I want to learn how to dance a Tongan tau’olunga, as written on my Bucket List. AND perform it at one of the regular village concerts. These dances, performed by a solo female are deceptively complicated. The movement of the hands and wrists – which look like graceful twirling to the untrained eye – actually tell the story of the song.

- I want to get back into health and political activism. I have to. I cannot know what I know, and do nothing about it. I took a break in the last half of 2011, for the sake of my sanity, but now, with spirit and passion restored, I am ready to delve back into the fray.

(This morning my cousin - aged just 32 - passed away. Cancer. Or was it the chemotherapy?

In the past year, I knew 5 people with cancer. Four of them had chemotherapy/radiation/surgery. And all four of them died.

One chose a natural alternative. Not only is he still alive...he is cancer-free.

Coincidence? Maybe. But I doubt it...How many people have to die before we are willing to look for answers beyond the radiation/surgery/chemotherapy options, which are absolutely horrendous for the victim patient. The treatment is worse than the disease!

Makes me so mad! I'm sorry, but I just will not, can not, stay silent about this stuff.

If you're interested, I wrote here about how my uncle beat prostate cancer, using bicarbonate soda.)

I’ve had a couple of offers to teach English in the schools over there. While part of me thinks this could be a really rewarding thing to do, another part of me practically squirms with the discomfort of being so far out of my comfort zone.

Oh. And I am looking forward to having the help of a large extended family to look after my children, and give them loads of attention and affection. In Tonga, the village really does raise the child. It is only us crazy Westerners who try to be everything, and do everything, ourselves...

My 14 year old stepson is also coming with us, and will attend high school there. This was a courageous choice on his behalf, and I hope it will be a positive experience that really expands his understanding of the world.

So....! Bring on 2012.

I'm ready.