Vaccine hesitancy is no longer just some fad – it's a worrying trend that endangers millions. According to a 2025 poll by the Washington Post and KFF, one in six parents in the U.S. do not vaccinate their children. But what happens when parents disagree on the topic?
This story illustrates it quite well. The mother was an anti-vaxxer and refused to immunize her immunocompromised daughter. The dad, on the other hand, was a firm believer in science and demanded that the kid be vaccinated for chickenpox. When the mom forged the vaccination records, the dad demonstrated the best way to bring down unhinged anti-vaxxers.
An 8-year-old got chickenpox because her anti-vaxx mom lied about immunizing her
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After the dad found out, he looked for a legal way to get the woman as far away as possible from his child
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Image credits: ThrowYouAway2213
Commenters urged the dad to go ballistic on the mom: "She endangered ALL the children there"
Most parents see eye to eye when it comes to vaccinating their children
When two people get married, they expect that their worldviews and opinions will align as they go on to live as a family. Yet, as this story illustrates, people can change, and disagreements about certain aspects of parenting can arise.
When it comes to vaccinating their children, most parents agree on what to do. Only a minority doesn't, as a recent study has shown. When the researchers asked how many fathers have disagreed with the mothers of their children about vaccinating their children against COVID-19, only 11% said there was disagreement.
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When married couples disagree about this issue, there is no need for both parents to explicitly agree. As the professor of neurology and biochemistry at Georgetown University, James Giordano, PhD, writes, this becomes a domestic problem, not a legal or ethical one.
A shot like the chickenpox vaccine is an FDA-approved course of care for children who don't have immunity to it. A doctor would have no problem vaccinating a child even if the other parent disagrees. This, of course, changes when there is a court-ordered custody agreement and the consent of both parents is required regarding any medical decisions.
Still, Giordano recommends health education and promotion to make the other parent understand the risks to which they are exposing their child. Pediatrician Danielle Lunetz has previously shared her experience with talking to divorced parents about their vaccine hesitancy, and she says that trying to provide as much information as possible is the only thing physicians can do.
"I've had both parents in the same room at the same time. It's awkward, but it's giving them – at this point, what is the standard of care? What's recommended for your child at this time? And they need to work it out."
Still, parents' distrust of childhood vaccines is rising
When we look at the statistics, the majority of American parents still trust vaccines and get their children immunized. Nevertheless, vaccine skepticism is becoming more common, and it's reflected in recent policies of the American government, too.
According to a 2025 Pew Research Center poll, 57% of American parents have high confidence in childhood vaccines. In contrast, only 14% of parents distrust them. Republican, less-educated, and younger parents are more likely to distrust the effectiveness, safety testing, and schedules of vaccines.
Since 2011, vaccination rates have slightly dropped. As the CDC reported in 2025, vaccinations for viruses like polio and varicella, and diseases like diphtheria and measles, have decreased by about 4% among kindergarteners.
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This year, the CDC also reported a record-high number of measles cases in the U.S. As of March 12, there were 1,362 cases of measles reported in the USA. In comparison, 2,284 total cases were recorded in 2025.
Professor of infectious disease and preventive medicine at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Dr. William Schaffner, told People that this trend is a worrying sign that we might be going back to the "bad old days" when the now-preventable diseases could cause unnecessary fatalities.
"There's [a] great deal of turmoil and uncertainty in the USA vaccine space. Unprecedented," Schaffner said. "My colleagues are across the country in infectious diseases and public health, we're all absolutely bamboozled and disheartened. Vaccines are thought to be one of the great public health advances, along with pure water, over the last century."
"Don't tell me that this should be parental choice," he added.
In an update, the father detailed what the ex-wife did after suspecting he might've found out
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A few years later, the guy updated readers on the punishment his ex faced
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Image credits: ThrowYouAway2213
"I am so glad that girl has at least one sane parent," the commenters reacted
