I breastfed them well past two years, and we educated ourselves about good nutrition and changed our eating habits. We also gave away all of the poisonous cleaning products in our house, began buying organically grown foods, and made sure our children got enough exercise, sleep, and outdoor time.

Then, in 2006, when the children were six, four, and two years old, I was awarded a Fulbright fellowship to teach and do research in Niger, West Africa, one of the poorest countries in the world, where diseases—including typhoid fever, malaria, measles, schistosomiasis, meningitis, giardiasis, dengue fever, and hepatitis—are common. A yellow-fever vaccine is required for entry into the country. After revisiting every childhood illness and assessing the health risks posed by international travel, we decided to vaccinate our children against only three other diseases, besides yellow fever: polio, tetanus, and meningitis. We used the German-made tetanus-only vaccine instead of a DPT combination, and spaced out the shots, one at a time, over a period of several months, so that if our children had a bad reaction, we would know which vaccine it was.

No matter what measures you take to boost

your child’s natural immunity, there is no way to eliminate risk: there are risks to vaccinating, and risks to not vaccinating. It is counterproductive to terrify parents into vaccinating their children, or to vilify those who choose not to. In the US, we have the right to refuse a pharmaceutical product, and it doesn’t surprise me that more parents than ever are exercising that right. The CDC, the drug manufacturers, government spokespeople, vaccine advocates, and vaccine skeptics—most of those who make up each of these groups are also parents. As parents, we all have a common goal: to keep our children and our nation as healthy as possible.

As parents,
we all
have a
common goal:
to keep
our children
and our nation
as healthy
as possible.

Interested in finding out more about the vaccine controversy? Log on to www.mothering. com/links for access to our entire section on vaccines, including the past article, “Chickenpox Party” by Brian Wimer, Jacquelyn L. Emm, and Deren Bader; the Vaccinations forum on our discussion boards; the “Vaccines: Mercury, Autism & Chronic Disease” reprint (available for purchase); and a special video of Vicky Debold’s son, Sam, playing piano.

Jennifer Margulis, PhD, is a professional writer and the mother of three ( 9, 8, and 5). She lives in Ashland, Oregon, and was a Fulbright Scholar in Niger from 2006 to 2007. Read more about her at www.jennifermargulis.net.