Foster mom defends refusing vaccine

A number of foster parents in Washington are reportedly willing to give up their licenses to care for kids under the age of 2 rather than agreeing to a new flu vaccine mandate.

Some question the decision to forgo licenses over a flu shot. But a woman who’s made that decision reached out to The Ron & Don Show to explain her reasoning.

Listener Theresa writes:

My husband and I are foster parents and the age group we typically serve is birth to four. We are the parents of four, one of whom we adopted from foster care. We also have a 6-month-old who has been with us since she was four days old and a 4-year-old who came to us last week.

We cherish the kids who come to us and do everything we can to help them have a safe, happy, and loving home. We sacrifice everything for them. We go through all of the training, drive them to appointment after appointment, stay up all night, wake up in the middle of the night, repair walls that have been bashed and toys that have been thrown. We mend hearts that have been broken and chase the boogey man away.

We love the kids who come to us. Foster parenting isn’t a career. We aren’t “employed” by the State. We don’t get vacation days or health coverage. We give up vacation time away from our extended family to serve the children in our care or we take them with us because they are part of our family. Our children are the ones who sacrifice the most. They give up EVERYTHING to help these little ones who need a safe home.

We aren’t against vaccinations. We do everything the State requests of us, but we won’t be getting the flu vaccine. Why would I subject my children to a vaccine that has proven to be only 23% effective? Why would I subject my drug-exposed 2-year-old with respiratory problems, who seems to catch every illness that comes through the house, to a vaccine that may cause him to react negatively when it HAS BEEN PROVEN ineffective against this year’s strain of flu?

Here’s the bottom line… Our children are just as important as EVERY child who enters our home, but they are OURS and WE have the right to protect them. This regulation wants to take that right away, while neglecting to hold social workers, transportation workers, visitation supervisors, birth parents, etc. to that same standard.

We are taking a stand because we love ALL of the children in our care and we’ll fight for each and every one of them. Our licensor called a couple of weeks ago to ask our input on this. When I told him that we were not supportive of getting the flu shot for our kids, he explained that they were collecting input and no decision had been made yet.

Our biggest worry is about the baby we have placed with us because her case may be moving towards adoption. Our licensor assured me that she would not be removed, but that it may be that we wouldn’t have any new placements under 2. He didn’t know for sure what would happen, but reassured me that it was important to speak up about how we felt.

My hope is that the State backs down from this regulation and doesn’t attempt to take our rights to make medical decisions for our children away from us. It will be a sad day for sure because we do babies best, especially drug-exposed infants.

Where will the State turn when good families are forced to choose between parenting their own children and getting a flu vaccine that doesn’t necessarily prevent the flu? Where will those children go? Who is going to step up and care for them?

Listen to The Ron & Don Show discussion about the issue: