" I was raise by flower child - dippy parent in Oregon . No vaccinum , was tolerate at menage , homeschooled for 16 years , etc . I have since receive all of my vaccinations . "
Currently, the CDCrecommendsthat children be vaccinated against potentially harmful diseases ranging from measles and tetanus to hepatitis and polio. However, vaccine hesitancy has beenon the risesince COVID, and once fringe beliefs, like thinking vaccines cause autism (they don’t), are becoming more mainstream.
Recently, on Reddit, a woman who grew up in an anti-vax family posted an AMA, inviting users to ask her anything about her experience, and it was a really fascinating conversation. She started the thread by writing, “I was raised by hippie-dippy parents in Oregon. No vaccines, was born at home, homeschooled for 16 years, etc. I have since received all of my vaccinations.”
Here are some of the most interesting questions and answers:
1.Q: When did your beliefs start to differ from your parents and why? How did they react?
2.Q: So you learned you were unvaccinated at 18?
A : I started to compass the construct when I was around 14 , when we went to a new pediatrician , and the doctor asked for Gardasil . My mammy mentioned that I had not been vaccinated at all .
3.Q: So at what point between 14 and 18 did you start to disagree with your parents' views? What led to you thinking differently?
4.Q: Seems like the biggest annoyance to you of not being vaccinated is filling out paperwork. I understand that vaccination exemptions are inconvenient, but if it weren’t for that, does it actually bother you?
A : Yes , it does . After cultivate in a nursing home where I have had residents dispense with infantile paralysis paralysis and cephalopathy from morbilli and sepsis from a shingles infection . I can certainly say that it does trouble oneself me that my parent made that decision .
5.Q: Did you get all your vaccines at once, or did you space them out? How did you feel physically after getting the polio vaccine?
6.Q: Was it expensive to get the vaccines or covered by insurance or public health?
A : It was very cheap for me . I actually had a prof help me pay for the more expensive ones .
7.Q: After your biology class, whats your opinion on the preservatives, stabilizers, and other ingredients used in vaccines?
8.Q: Do you wish you were vaccinated when you were younger, or are you okay with the choice your parents made?
A : I care I was because then I would n’t have waste so much clip , like hour , fill out granting immunity forms for my college . I also do n’t apprise the fact that I was in pain and remember the pain from getting vaccinations . I still am icked out by needles even though I ’m a nurse .
9.Q: Do you feel your parents endangered your life at all?
10.Q: How do you view their choice to not vaccinate you? Has it altered your perception of them in any way?
A : It was a regretful decision . I definitely imagine they are selfish , for trusted .
11.Q: What’s your relationship with your parents like now, and how do they feel about the way public health is going at present?
12.Q: So did you catch a lot of diseases as a child? Or something you should have been vaccinated against?
A : The only disease I remember catch is Chickenpox , which was so shuddery . My parent bring me to a pox party . It was Hades . I also got the flu a few times .
13.Q: I also wasn’t vaccinated until I was 18. Have your parents changed their views at all over time? My mom recently apologized to me in light of the current measles outbreak. Dad is still extremely anti-vax. I work in public health now, so that makes Thanksgiving fun, lol.
14.Q: When you’ve tried to talk to them about it, what happens?
A : The conversation about vaccine rarely come up . I have tried to talk to them about it once in regard to my younger siblings . However , they are jolly resistant .
When the COVID-19 vaccine was roll out , I tried to have a serious conversation with them about it , but it end up in a big fight , which is not worth it to me . I think it ’s crucial to meet citizenry where they ’re at and support them on their journeying without being forceful because that can guide to more impedance .
15.Q: How well were you homeschooled? I have a friend who homeschools their children, but I presume doesn’t actually do any kind of schooling.
16.Q: Did your family’s social circle also consist of anti-vaxxers? If so, have their adult children made similar decisions to proceed with getting vaccinated, or have most stayed unvaccinated?
A : Absolutely . We did a homeschooling co op . I do n’t really speak on that level with those people , so I authentically do n’t know .
17.Q: Do you think there are effective ways to try to persuade parents who are worried about the effects of vaccines, or do they have to change their own minds?
