My wife is 38+ weeks pregnant with child #1 and we are expecting the arrival any day. We have taken courses, read books on sleeping, etc., spent an outrageous amount of money on stroller, crib, etc. and are very excited.
I have been acutely aware of the controversy around vaccinations and an alleged link to autism, but because I had no kids, I never looked into it. From what I can tell, there have been no scientific studies that prove causation between the MMR vaccine (generally given at around 8 weeks) and autism. The anti-vaccination movement has been largely grassroots (parents of austistic kids who were supposedly healthy before the vaccine) and a Dr. Wakefield in the U.K. Hollywood types like Robert De Niro and Jenny McCarthy have also hopped on board.
Fast forward to today, a dear friend (well-educated, level-headed father of two) started pleading with me to not vaccinate. He went so far as to say that our friendship means far too much to him to allow me to make the mistake of vaccinating, and asked that I meet up with him to discuss. My friend believes that the vaccinations are a huge money-maker for "Big Pharma," who is in bed with the CDC. He is a great guy and friend, but his behavior seems almost cultish. We are both committed Christians, and he compared his pleading with me about vaccinations to sharing the Gospel of Christ with an atheist friend.
Obviously, we would not do anything that could increase the risk of our child having autism. With that said, my look at the data seems to indicate that the odds of vaccine-induced autism (or other complications) are less than the odds of contracting disease due to not vaccinating.
What say you, HROT?
I have been acutely aware of the controversy around vaccinations and an alleged link to autism, but because I had no kids, I never looked into it. From what I can tell, there have been no scientific studies that prove causation between the MMR vaccine (generally given at around 8 weeks) and autism. The anti-vaccination movement has been largely grassroots (parents of austistic kids who were supposedly healthy before the vaccine) and a Dr. Wakefield in the U.K. Hollywood types like Robert De Niro and Jenny McCarthy have also hopped on board.
Fast forward to today, a dear friend (well-educated, level-headed father of two) started pleading with me to not vaccinate. He went so far as to say that our friendship means far too much to him to allow me to make the mistake of vaccinating, and asked that I meet up with him to discuss. My friend believes that the vaccinations are a huge money-maker for "Big Pharma," who is in bed with the CDC. He is a great guy and friend, but his behavior seems almost cultish. We are both committed Christians, and he compared his pleading with me about vaccinations to sharing the Gospel of Christ with an atheist friend.
Obviously, we would not do anything that could increase the risk of our child having autism. With that said, my look at the data seems to indicate that the odds of vaccine-induced autism (or other complications) are less than the odds of contracting disease due to not vaccinating.
What say you, HROT?