There is nothing quite like the arrival of a baby that can simultaneously untie and divde families. New parents taking on the task of loving and protecting their newborn children are faced with a ton of choices to make; and each parent takes that "burden" very seriously. Suddenly new moms and dads are responsible for making some of the most important decisions they've ever had to make, even including ones that make other people uncomfortable.
One mom-to-be is facing such a dilemma as her daughters due date quickly approaches.
The pregnant woman and her husband made a tough judgement call:
The pregnant mom briefly explained on Reddit that her family is staunchly anti-vax and she herself had to wait until she was an adult to get vaccinations.
"Now I’m 30 weeks pregnant with my first child, and my husband and I decided we don’t want my unvaccinated family around our daughter until she has at least had her 6 month shots."
And for this woman, that means practically everyone on her side of the family.
She recently broke the news to them and her family, unsurprisingly, didn't take it well.
The mom-to-be says she is being bombarded with guilt trips from everyone ranging form her aunt to her sisters.
"They told me they have been so upset that they are crying all the time, and are really hoping I change my mind" she wrote. "Apparently my aunt is so depressed by this that she hasn’t been sleeping well."
Now she feels torn: She knows she and her husband are doing what they believe to be best fr her family, but sill feels guilty for upsetting her family.
Redditors seemed to collectively agree: This mama to be was totally in the right.
"Measles is one of the most contagious diseases we know of, and it can be deadly to babies," replied on concerned user. "It’s present in the US with recent outbreaks. Unvaccinated kids hang out with families with similar beliefs and outbreaks can happen at any time. It would be absolutely irresponsible to expose an infant too young to be vaccinated to this."
A few people even pointed out that letting them visit at 6 months might be too generous.
"…Some vaccines come at 1 year and not 6 months, so speak to your doctor before settling on 6 mo as the date they can come around," warned one user.
Others told he mom they'd wait as long as the toddler years to allow them o come around.
"Maybe wait for them to reach voting/drinking age," one person suggested. "Then they cant be skewed by this sort of anti-vax dribble."
Sadly, there were even a few folks who shared their stories of the repercussions interacting with unvaccinated people.
"I [sic] 100% agree," wrote in one user. "I caught measles before I was old enough to be vaccinated, and ended up with eye problems. Even worse, my cousin's kids have caught whooping cough after being exposed to unvaccinated kids – the younger of my cousin's sons is on track but due for his next round in a couple of months, and the older one is behind on his vaccination record because of congenital heart disease. He's one who is supposed to be protected by herd immunity, and irresponsible [expletive] have put his life at risk because they believe a bunch of lies spread across Facebook."
Ultimately people admired the mom for doing what's best for her family -- and they encouraged her to stick to her guns.
This user summed it up perfectly:
"Your parents made choices for you when you were a baby, now you are making choices for your baby. Your baby will not be scared of them after meeting at 6 months. That is crazy. I live far away from my nieces and nephews, and they were never scared of me. I would only see them a few times in their first year. Please do not let them bully you into changing your mind. Your husband and yourself are putting your baby first."
These stories are based on posts found on Reddit. Reddit is a user-generated social news aggregation, web content rating, and discussion website where registered members submit content to the site and can up- or down-vote the content. The accuracy and authenticity of each story cannot be confirmed by our staff.
