I have always been pro-vaccine. My father worked in International Development, so I grew up and traveled all over the world in my youth, meeting children my age who had suffered from diseases that most of my friends back in Canada were lucky never to have even heard of. Later on, when I was going […]
My parents were brought up listening to the radio broadcasts and reading the literature of the Worldwide Church of God, a cult/fringe religion that was developed from a mishmash of Seventh Day Adventist doctrine, revived Old Testament traditions, and prophecies/conspiracy theories about what happened to the Israelites and when Armageddon would rain down on Earth. […]
When I was a child, chickenpox was a very common disease. Most children got it, and it didn’t seem like a big deal to me. You got some spots that were itchy, and a fever for a few days, then you were fine. I was almost seven when I contracted chickenpox. I got the itchy […]
My wife is a very strong woman. She is independent, intelligent, fierce-spirited, and dedicated to her ideals: all reasons why I love her, right? When we found out we were having a baby, we were elated. But, we also felt afraid, small, and uncertain – and rightfully so! When we became pregnant, my wife decided […]
Speaking up for vaccines is important. I didn’t know that it was until I had kids. Even in the beginning, I was the opposite of vocal on parenting choices, mostly because as soon as I was a mother, I became painfully aware of the constant judgment we face. Beginning before the baby even arrives we get […]
Like many people, I came to writing after a love affair with reading. The last book count in my house was over ten thousand. We have twenty-five “official” bookcases and a dozen more piles scattered everywhere else. And like many of my fellow writers, I don’t write so much as rewrite. I have changed the […]
It was never my intention in life to become a vaccine advocate. I have to do enough just advocating for my kids, as two of three are on varying degrees of the autism spectrum. Multiple times a year we have to draw up new treatment plans, new IEPs, start calling people out when things are […]
When my son was 3 years old and my daughter 5 months, a woman emailed a local mothers’ listserv and revealed that her son had pertussis. He was unvaccinated. The mother brought the child to a strip mall where many children who were too young to be fully vaccinated, including my daughter, were present and […]
My journey into the anti-vaccination scene began when I became pregnant with my one and only child. It all started when I watched the documentary The Business of Being Born and decided to pursue a home-birth midwife. After months of searching, I found one in my area who agreed to take me under her care. […]
Almost seven years ago my journey in motherhood began. My son was born into this world in our bedroom, though it left him scarred (a severe obstetric brachial plexus injury). And while he should have been whisked away to a hospital and promptly given a Vitamin K shot (he was a severe shoulder dystocia with major hematoma on his […]