These Five Unvaccinated Children Are Healthy, Happy, Active, Social and Smart!

Elizabeth is an elementary school teacher and her husband, Steve, works in IT. They have five young children, ages 8, 6, 4, 2, and a baby. An active family, they very much enjoy going to the beach and playing sports together. None of their children have had any vaccines whatsoever and they are all perfectly healthy.

Elizabeth says, “We are active in our church community and try to teach our children our religious values. Our kids are all unvaccinated and are pretty similar in temperament: they are all social, active, healthy, and happy. They attend public school and are all doing well academically and behaviorally. We never have any concerns and they have learned to speak English and French fluently. They make friends easily and are happy to attend school.

She explains that their eight-year-old daughter (their eldest child) is representative of the health and demeanor of all their children. “Emily is a kind, thoughtful, confident, determined and fun-loving child. She is a social butterfly and makes friends everywhere she goes. She always has a smile on her face and she never gives up. Elizabeth says that Emily shows determination in everything she does—whether it’s drawing, painting, playing hockey, learning to skateboard, or learning a second language—she always keeps pushing herself to meet her goals. She speaks English and French fluently. And she has never been vaccinated!

When invited to answer a series of questions about her preferences, Emily was happy to answer! 

Q: What do you like to do more than anything else and why?
A: Swimming with my family, sports camp, and making art.

Q: What do you want to do when you grow up and why?
A: I want to be a baker because I like baking cool-looking cupcakes.

Q: Do you like going to school? Why or why not?
A: Yes, because I get to play with my friends. I also like math and art class.

Q: How often do you get sick and what is it like when you do get sick?
A: I get sick about once a year. When I get sick, I usually stay in bed for a day and sleep and I feel better by the next day.

Q: What kind of meals do your parents make for you and do you like it?
A: We are vegetarian, so we eat vegetables, noodles, rice and beans. I like apples and peanut butter.  I like most of the foods my family makes. My favorite food is curry and rice. I also love vegetarian sausage rolls.

How Elizabeth keeps her family healthy

Elizabeth reports that exercising and eating nutritious food play a large part in keeping her family healthy. She adds, “We eat a vegetarian diet and enjoy home-cooked meals regularly. Recently, we started growing fruits and vegetables in our garden. We all take probiotics and include supplements, such as vitamins and protein powder, in our diet. We limit our use of harsh cleaning products and search for balance in our diet and lifestyle. Our kids eat lots of fruits and vegetables, but they also like french fries!”

She says, “When we do get sick, we do our best to support our immune response through healthy foods, plenty of water, probiotics, vitamins and rest. We monitor signs and symptoms and make the decision to seek medical attention if necessary. At one point, we were exposed to pertussis through a friend. Two of our children developed a runny nose and a cough. We did everything we could to boost their immune systems to help them recover. Since we knew we were exposed and we knew it’s best to identify and treat pertussis as soon as possible to avoid adverse reactions, I immediately took my sons to the doctor to get tested for pertussis and the doctor refused to test, saying it was probably just a common cold and to come back if the symptoms worsened. He also recommended the vaccine and sent us home. Thankfully, our sons recovered very quickly, and their coughs had improved by the next day.”

“We also all got sick in late March 2020 with covid-like symptoms, but back then they didn’t have widespread testing like they do now, so we were just told to sit at home and get better. And we did just that. Within a week, all of us were healthy and back to normal (except that we’ve been pretty much locked down ever since in our province of Canada). That’s why we decided in the summer of 2020 to move out of the big city to a little town, out in the country. Now the kids can play outside in our large backyard, whether the government is locking us down or not.”

The overall health and demeanor of an unvaccinated child

“Emily’s health is great. She has never required antibiotics or any medications, other than being prescribed topical creams for her skin as an infant and toddler. She had outbreaks of eczema as an infant and toddler, which we managed by eliminating dairy from her diet and adding probiotics to build up her gut health. She has been free of eczema symptoms for more than six years now. We slowly reintroduced dairy to her diet, but she still prefers to limit her intake.

“Emily has been exposed to many illnesses through childcare, play groups, and school and has built a very strong immune system. She rarely misses school due to illness, about once a year or less. She is social and has a happy positive outlook on life.”

Elizabeth and Steve’s journey in deciding not to vaccinate

Elizabeth explains that she was fully vaccinated as a child. “Steve had his vaccines as an infant, but his parents stopped vaccinating him when he was young. We didn’t have any personal stories with adverse reactions to vaccines, but we had friends who had experiences.

“We decided to look into the pros and cons of vaccines, as well as ask our daughter’s pediatrician. Unfortunately, the pediatrician couldn’t answer our questions, so she referred us to a pamphlet. It worried us that she didn’t actually know what was in the vaccines and she was supposed to be informing us. We looked into the ingredients and the side effects from the vaccine manufacturer’s website. We weren’t satisfied with the safety. We looked into the risk of the diseases, as well as the signs and symptoms that the vaccines were attempting to prevent. We brought up our concerns to our doctor and we eventually came to the conclusion that the possible benefit of the vaccine was not worth the risks the vaccines posed.”

Choosing the best physician

“Vaccine bullying is a big problem. It makes me very uncomfortable taking my kids to the doctor. And to be honest, we avoid going as much as possible. I’ve had a nurse tell me my newborn would never be able to attend public school if I didn’t vaccinate him. It was completely untrue, and when I responded by telling her that my eldest was currently sitting in her public school classroom, completely unvaccinated, the nurse became quiet. It’s sad that people who should be informed are sharing false information.

“We are currently looking for a new doctor where we can feel comfortable going. We’ve realized, over the years, that the less medical intervention our children receive, the better off they are. A few of our kids received antibiotics (as a preventative measure) at the hospital when they were born, and the more they received as newborns the worse their eczema symptoms were as they got into their toddler years. The two kids (who didn’t receive any antibiotics) never had eczema at all. So, we believe that the less medication they intake in general, the better off they will be.”

The challenges of raising vaccine-free children

Elizabeth states, “We try not to bring up the subject that our kids are not vaccinated. We have family members that strongly believe in vaccines and think we are making poor choices. We prefer not to get into discussions, but we share our reasons when asked. People often get really upset that we don’t vaccinate our kids.

“I think most people assume all children in public schools are vaccinated. The fact that our children aren’t vaccinated rarely comes up in conversation. We usually only face problems with concerned medical workers or family members. Our kids have all attended childcare, public school and extracurriculars without any issues.”

When asked if she thinks her unvaccinated children are a “threat to society,” Elizabeth answered emphatically, “Absolutely not! If they’re sick, we will not take them out and try to spread the illness. We keep them home until they feel better. They also get sick much less frequently than kids we know who are vaccinated.”

For those trying to decide whether or not to vaccinate their children

“We encourage parents and parents-to-be who are on the fence about going vaccine-free to look into the facts. Ask your doctor to list all the possible side effects and make sure you are fully informed. If your doctor only lists muscle soreness, redness at injection site or simple things like fever, or fatigue, then they aren’t giving you the full story. Dig deeper because there are always risks of complications. Look into the manufacturer’s information. Don’t accept vague pamphlets and government documents as proper research.

“We honestly believe that NOT vaccinating our kids was one of the best decisions we ever made in the development and nurturing of our children. As you can see, they live a happy and full life and I think being NOT vaccinated is a big part of their health and happiness.”