We asked parents about their experience of vaccinating or not vaccinating, what they wish they had known and what advice they would offer a new parent. Here are some of their replies:

Health Freedom Ireland (HFI) encourages you to become fully informed about vaccines and the associated illnesses so that you can give informed consent if you choose to vaccinate yourself or your child(ren). This information is for educational purposes only and is not intended as medical advice. HFI is simply bringing this information to you – we neither recommend nor advise against vaccination.

My child is not vaccinated , I made a decision after reading all the ingredients in each vaccine. That made me realize that it is something not right. How come a child who is only two months old can digest all the toxins injected into his body considering that all the organs are not fully developed and strong. Then I thought if a baby is only allowed to drink milk how come a doze of so many vaxxs are allowed. Made no sense to me. Plus I was vaxxed when I was a baby and used to get sick from the moment the toxins were injected into my body, antibiotic after antibiotic was given to me and now my guts are very sensitive. My son is 3 years old and when he gets seasonal viruses I treat him with natural remedies and it takes a week to be back to himself sometimes only 3-4 days. It was the best decision ever.

Advice to new parents: Trust your instincts/gut. Don’t blindly follow HSE/GP recommendation. No one has your child’s best interests more at heart that YOU. If your child is vaccine injured/gets autism(brain damage), it is you who has to deal with the fallout for the rest of your and their lives, not their GP, not the HSE, not the PHN. They are unaffected. They don’t care. They continue living their lives as normal. (And your GP gets monetary compensation for every vaccine your child gets btw!!!) Your child has an amazing immune system that has evolved over thousands of years, don’t start messing with it. I wish that I knew more Irish parents that spoke out that they didn’t vaccinate their children. But unfortunately, it’s so taboo. I haven’t even disclosed to my own parents or siblings or friends that my two children are unvaccinated. I lie and say they are. It’s so daunting making that decision and going against your GP, PHN, HSE, WHO. It’s natural to worry are you doing the right thing. But you need to listen to your gut. You need to research your decision thoroughly so that you can be confident in it and stand behind it. I am so happy we did not vaccinate. I used to be so scared of my GP, PHN, the midwives etc(when I refused all vaccines in pregnancy and vit k at birth). You don’t need to explain yourself, no is a complete answer. My PHN did probe my reasons, but once I explained how the covid vaccine was heavily pushed despite the lack of long and short term safety data and especially once they started giving it to children (who were never really at risk of covid, always mild for them) it started making me question things and flipped my beliefs upside down and inside out. My PHN actually conceded and somewhat agreed with me saying she refused to let her teenage children get the covid vaccines (even though they wanted it because all their peers got it.) on my second pregnancy, I didn’t worry one bit of their reactions or was I doing the right thing, I know it. I have no regrets about not vaccinating. My children are so clever and advanced and have met all their milestones early. My children are rarely sick. (Maybe a sniffle twice a year) Never had any ear infections. Whilst my friends children have so many red flags of no eye contact, not responding to their names at 12 months old, hand flapping. It’s scary. Autism rates are risking exponentially. Is it 1 in 2 by 2030? (Pls check this) the children’s health defence is a great website.

My son was born 5 years ago through csection. Breastfeeding didn’t work for us. That’s why I have decided not to vax my son. It was difficult time for me as I was worried to share my choice with other parents. I dint want to be judged by others. He never had a sleep issues. His brain is working perfectly. He is super healthy, of course he gets cold and flu from time to time but his body can recover very quickly. A few nights ago he got an ear infection after swimming but his recovery was so quick that he could go to school the next day. Now I believe I made the right choice.
Dublin

Couldn’t be more sure of our decision not to vaccinate our three children. Best thing we could have done for their health. Our two daughters (6 and 3.5 have never been to the doctor and our son (7) has only gone twice and that was down to us being new parents and still figuring out what to do when a child is poorly. Going to a talk by Jane Donegan was extremely beneficial. I wish I’d done my research on the vitamin k injection as our son did receive that and as a result, he was jaundice and had a very weak suck for breastfeeding and I ended up supplementing which to this day I regret. But happy I listened to my mother’s intuition when it came to not going near any vaccine. Advice to new parents regarding vaccines… research research research and not on google!!! Trust your gut

Sadly I didn’t research vaccines. Having worked in health care I routinely got all required vaccines. My first child is fully vaccinated up to age 5. My second child was not so lucky and after the 12 month vaccines, had a seizure at home and stopped breathing. Unfortunately this led to a Aquired Brain Injury. I have cared for my child for the 11 years since . With little or no help from the HSE or any other services. My child was initially diagnosed with Autism under the HSE AON team. Once I fought for a neurological assessment including MRI , it was confirmed a brain injury. I can’t understand how any professional can watch a child loose skills and not investigate a neurological issue first before a observational diagnosis. If a adult were to loose skills a full neurological assessment is the first thing that would be assessed in a medical setting. It should be the same for children. I have watched my child suffer unbearable pain and distress, cognitive issues and health issues that no parent should have to watch and no child should suffer. For 17 years I vaccinated for my job. i vaccinated for holidays. I followed the rules and didn’t think twice about vaccinating my children. It wasn’t until my child suffered a life altering adverse reaction that I truly saw the vilification of parents asking questions, the manipulated science and the mistreatment of families speaking out. So I urge any parent reading this. Put the time and effort in to listening to all sides, and reading the science for yourself. It’s very easy to shut a parent down with the word antivaxxer. If I was a antivaxxer , I wouldn’t have a vaccine injured son with a brain injury. Remember the people speaking out , have first hand knowledge because they did vaccinate. Our children are already injured, we are trying to save yours .

I really wish that I had done more research on vaccines before I vaccinated my children. I didn’t think twice about giving to them as babies. I am not aware of any adverse affects so I pray they were unaffected. I still believe they were dangerous and unnecessary. Andrew Wakefield has been demonised for his stance but if I had listened to him earlier then I would have been better informed. Wicklow

I have 3 children and none of them are vaccinated, for anything. They are now 12, 10 and 5. They have never had an antibiotic for an illness and rarely get colds. My little on was born in the hospital, the others were born at home. At birth I was told she had ‘group B strep’ and I was put under serious pressure to give her antibiotics. In the end they took her and gave her the antibiotic. This is the only experience we’ve had with antibiotics. My children are strong and healthy and I would recommend everyone to make their own choice around vaccines and not be bullied into vaccinating their children against everything.

I am a nurse and read a lot about vaccines during my pregnancy and talked to people who had unvaxxed children. I decided not to vaccinate my children at all. They grew up on a small organic farm with horses & all the natural stuff. They’re 18 and 12 now, never needed a GP or hospital, don’t suffer from allergies or chronic diseases. I’m absolutely happy with my decision.

I got my first child vaccinated up until 6 months on a somewhat delayed schedule. I was researching while I did this until i gained an informed opinion on vaccines. She got a really bad ear infection after her 6 month injections and ended up on antibiotics in hospital. I soon realised I had to stop these injections and continued to research about them. I’m just glad that’s the only side effect she had. I regret getting any vaccines for her. My second child has had no vaccines, he has never had any severe infections or needed antibiotics.
Dublin 13

I have 2 boys, 6 1/2 and 3 years old, my eldest had the 3 months old vaccines and broke out in eczema behind his knees and elbow creases within a few days. I’m certain it was from the shots but can’t prove it. That’s when I stopped vaccinating him. He had no more. It took a long time to get his skin back to normal. He is very healthy and so is his brother who had none, no vitamin k either. I took all shots during pregnancy on my eldest but I wasn’t informed about the vitamin k until in the labour ward and found that to be intentionally done so I couldn’t make an informed decision. After an induction and he was born in distress. Worked on for a few minutes to get him to breathe then was given the vitamin k straight away, I had no time to think clearly what he was being given, only told that he could have internal bleeding and he needed it. I was more informed and less afraid of the fear doctors try to make you feel while pregnant and trusted myself to make the decisions that felt right for me and my baby. My second boy is completely unvaccinated and the healthier of the 2. I delayed cord clamping on him too. It was a beautiful birth compared to the induction my first boy endured. Dee

My son is 7 yrs old and has never been vaccinated. He is super healthy. Yes he gets colds and vomits now and then which is really the immune system maturing and the body detoxing but he’s never had serious illness or infection in his body. He’s never had any pharma meds or antibiotics…. we use homoeopathy and the age old remedies you find in the kitchen cupboard! Clean food and distilled water too. His health is a testament to this. I’ve researched pharma and vaccines for over 20 years…. we all need to take responsibility for our own health and that of our children…. big pharma is there to make money … and lifelong customers … do the research, you’ll be glad you did

Advice to new parents- research vaccines from sources not receiving payments for administering vaccines as much as you likely researched baby products you purchased. What I wish I had known – the ingredients. ALL the potential side effects (not just the 5 the HSE informed me about), the frequency at which side effects happen, that the actual childhood illnesses are a breeze to manage and that a healthy child has nothing to worry about if they contract any of them. I also wish I had read the ingredients because I wouldn’t serve them to an enemy! I wish I had heard of The Highwire? ICAN, Vaxxed, Dr Suzanne Humphries, Dr Sherrie Tenpenny. I wish I had heard of MTHFR mutation. I wish I had heard anything negative about vaccines that would have made me question putting these toxic chemicals into my already perfect baby with a perfectly functioning immune system. I am so glad I decided to stop vaccinating and I will regret to my dying day that I ever put that poison in my child. The only time my child needed medical attention was as a direct result of vaccine injuries. He hasn’t been to a Dr since. 2nd child has never seen a Dr

My son was born perfect, he was a very placid baby, never cried, happy to take his breast milk and go to sleep, until he received his 2-month vaccine, he started crying within hours of that vaccine and cried day and night for 2 years, I was fobbed off by doctors stating it was Colic (he didn’t have “colic” until he received the vaccine!) Eventually, after 2 years I began researching vaccine damage and I got my son treatments, luckily I was able to reverse the majority of his symptoms, but NOBODY is going to tell me my child was not vaccine-injured, his symptoms began immediately after the vaccine. I do not agree with ANY vaccines, they are all toxic and unnecessary. The body has a perfect immune system to deal with pathogens. Please spread awareness of the damage all vaccines do to innocent children.

I have a wish that every new mother and father or guardian of infants and children would take the time to research about the childhood immunisation schedule that is repeatedly pushed to the highest level at every appointment from the moment you attend your first antenatal appointment to the letters that start coming and phone calls when you go past the time they were due. Fear should not be involved or pushed by Doctors, GPS, Practice nurses and so on. Information should be readily available, leaflets, inserts of the vaccines and ingredients used. I personally stopped vaccinating my oldest at 6 months due to reading and gut feelings about how unwell my baby was after the first few visits to the doctor. She suffered skin issues and was inconsolable after each visit. I was fobbed off by doctor’s and bombarded with phone calls. Threatening my baby will catch and spread every disease she hasn’t been vaccinated for. We never vaccinated our 2nd child at all and she is a happy healthy 3 year old. I am glad I listened to my gut. I do not appreciate phone calls from the HSE or GP threatening me. These are my children and it is my choice. Rolling out flu mists in schools now in the next few weeks, knowing that it sheds and will cause illness is a terrible act, a known act my the HSE in Ireland. Instead of sending consent forms home send forms home with the ingredients, the inserts and the risks.

I wish I knew then what I know now about vaccines. I would never have given them to my children

The advice I could give to parents is research for yourself. Reading everything you can about the vaccines. I bought books, read articles from interested doctors and listened to other mothers with both vaccined and unvaccinated children. This helped me to decide in not vaccinating my children. I have a 8yo and 6yo who have never been in the GP.

I have two children who are unvaccinated and both myself and my partner happily stand by our decision. The children are both extremely healthy and thriving with no health issues and when they do get sick, they handle it very well. I believe this is down to their bodies working optimally. My only regret is not knowing enough about the Vitamin K injection (which is offered at birth) by the time I had my first child. If you are on the fence about vaccinating or have a gut feeling against it but are afraid, my advice is to not make any decisions until you have the facts and information about the vaccinations being offered to your child/ren. Only then will you feel confident in your decision and to stand by it. Mother to a 5 year old boy and a 2 year old girl (who haven’t been to see a GP since their initial newborn checkup), Dublin.