Introduction: Vaccine Madness Sadness

These days, if a parent had the option to not talk about vaccines I'm confident they would opt for that route. It's gotten fierce out there, folks, and it's gotten mean. It's become yet another way for humans to do what they love to do when at their ugliest: Identify Us and Them. Criticize, ostracize, threaten, belittle, and condemn. 

I get it. I feel the anger and the fear, the confusion and the helplessness. And like a wide-eyed new mom, I feel the senseless urge to take my children back into my body and keep them there, safe until this storm has blown over.

But I don't think we're going to get a break all that soon. People are mad, and they're talking. They're sharing stories upon stories upon tragic stories. And since the natives are restless and that's not convenient, the media have been called to task and are blasting us with scientist after scientist pooh-poohing doubts over the Big Two for vaccines, safety and efficacy. So it's name-calling and it's one-upping. And if you're in a family where you're lucky enough to not have been told to go live on your own island where your kids all die, then I'm happy for you. 

Even though I'm not someone with a significant story (for which I thank my lucky stars and my weirdo in-laws for inspiring me to research it for myself) I find myself in the position to talk about vaccines. I've been investigating them for 4 years, since I was pregnant with my first child, and what I've discovered has become almost a living entity of rage and indignation. As the expression goes, this topic keeps me up at night. 

So I'm going to talk about it here. I want to share what I've learned. You can learn this stuff elsewhere, but I'm hoping to provide you with a synthesis--scientific research, testimonials, history. I hope it's accessible to you and offers some respite to you in your searching.