Hey guys.  So I've been humming over this post for a while now. Lots of people mail me about this topic, the topic of the MMR vaccination. They ask my opinion and wonder should they vaccinate, is it safe, what advice I can offer etc. so I'm finally gonna address this old taboo subject. 

Let's get one thing out of the way before I start this post. These are my views and mine alone. This page offers my personal opinions on all things autism, and they are in no way an indication of how anyone else should feel.  Don't riot please !! 😄😄😄

I know this topic is very emotional for some people so if you're reading this and your view is the total opposite, that's ok. I won't be offended and neither should you be.

So the V word... vaccines. 

One small word, and it can spark a debate among millions.  Some people will rally around the importance of vaccinating kids while others will plead and beg with parents not to do it. There are pros and cons as with anything, but when the MMR vaccine was supposedly linked to autism, the world went crazy. 

Here's what happened...

In 1998 a Dr Andrew Wakefield released a publication that claimed the combination measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine caused autism. But this was an elaborate fraud. It wasn't just that his claim was wrong. It was that it was utterly fabricated and wrong.

Dr. Wakefield claimed was that because the MMR vaccine was given as a combination, it overwhelmed the immune system. Not a single aspect of that claim was correct, and more importantly, nothing was studied. The studies came later, and it was found that the occurrence of autism in the case studies was the same in the vaccinated group as it was in the unvaccinated group. So autism was prevalent in kids both with and without the vaccination. That alone is enough to prove there's no link in my opinion, but then the researchers went on to admit later that they fabricated, tampered with, and even hid adverse data and results to back up Dr. Wakefields theory.

To add to the deceit, it was also discovered that Mr Wakefield had been funded by a pharmaceutical company who were trying to introduce their equivalent to the MMR vaccine. They were proposing the same product but as 3 separate vaccinations instead and therefore costing 3 times the price. He was directly funded by the competitors of the product he had tried to stop people from using. Talk about a hidden agenda!!

Irreparable damage was done. Thousands of parents chose to not vaccinate their children and many parents who already had, blamed the MMR vaccine for stealing away their children and replacing them with a quiet, strange child whom they longer recognised.

Others, me included, knew that their child was born with autism and although I have always been convinced of that, I still struggled on the decision to vaccinate our second child. 

What if there was some truth to it? Could I live with myself if it meant I was increasing his chances of ending up like his sister?

I heard a friend say after her daughters vaccination that "a light just went out in her ". That scared me.

On the other hand what if I didn't vaccinate my Logan and he developed Measles, Mumps or Rubella? How could I live with myself then? That scared me even more.

Someone once said to me, "But even if it did cause ASD, wouldn't you rather have that? ASD won't kill the child like any of those illnesses could" 

What about those kids with compromised immune systems? If my child is not vaccinated and in contact with them, am I jeopardising their health too?

I went back and forth until I had all the information I needed. Until I was satisfied that the whole MMR/ Autism debacle wasn't true. The negative ripple effect of that "so called study" is still evident to this day. I know many parents who still refuse to use the MMR vaccine, despite the protests of nurses, GP's etc. 

It's a personal decision and a tough one at that. 

For us, it was knowing, no matter what we did, we couldn't have prevented our child's autism. Knowing that we certainly didn't cause it helped us make the decision to vaccinate. 

Every year there seems to emerge a different reason why autism occurs. I've heard them all, from C Sections to not bonding with your children, taking paracetamol during pregnancy and your diet. We seem to crave an answer as to why this happened, no matter how silly or unlikely it might be. I can understand why. I sat on my couch after Kirsty was diagnosed and all I wanted to know was why this happened and how could I prevent it happening again. It's human nature to need a reason or something to blame. It saves us from the not knowing which can drive anyone crazy.

The evidence was there for us all along. In the videos of Kirsty rocking and flapping at only 3 months old or Logan going around in circles as soon as he could stand, which was months before any vaccination appointments arrived.

At the end of the day it was admitting that the traits of autism were already there, long before the vaccines came, that helped me cement a decision in my mind and stick to it. No one can make that decision for you. You have to live with it so give it time and consideration. For a lot of people the time creeps up on them and they feel pressure to make a decision quickly. If you're unsure talk to your GP or nurse or even hold off until you can decide comfortably.

It was right for us, so I am definitely for vaccines. But again, that's just me. I hope this helps anyone struggling to make that decision.

Thanks for reading guys.