Pregnant Woman Won't Let Anti-Vax Family Members Meet New Baby Until She's 6 Months Old

The thing about being an anti-vaxxer as an adult is that you're going to miss out on experiences because you're not vaccinated, experiences like meeting your brand new family member before she's six months old. A new mom-to-be recently took to Reddit's "Am I the A-hole?" because several of her family members are hurt that she wants to bar them from meeting her baby when she's born. 

She explains that she is 30 weeks pregnant with her first child, a daughter, and that she and her husband have decided that they don't want their unvaccinated family members to be around her until she's had her 6-month shots. Babies have vulnerable immune systems, and this seems reasonable. 

Of course, her family flipped out. She writes, "There have been some major guilt trips and articles messaged to me." Her aunt is convinced that if she doesn't meet her when she's born, she will be scared of everyone when she does. This is obviously ludicrous. OP isn't talking about not letting her child have any human interaction for the first six months of her life.

She just won't be smothered in kisses from people with potentially disease-ridden bodies. Big whoop! OP's sister keeps trying to guilt trip her, saying how much she will miss her and how upset she is that she won't see the baby for six months. Her other sister isn't even talking to her anymore!

She writes, "They told me they have been so upset that they are crying all the time and are really hoping I change my mind. Apparently, my aunt is so depressed by this that she hasn't been sleeping well." Dramatic much? If they really wanted to meet the new baby, they could just...get vaccinated! It's that simple. 

But OP is starting to feel bad, even though she and her husband are still convinced that they're doing the right thing. Luckily, commenters were there to assure her that she was doing the right thing.

"Your child, your choice," one person wrote. "I agree with you too." 

"Some vaccines come at 1 year and not 6 months, so speak to your doctor before settling on 6 months as the date they can come around," another threw out there. 

"What you propose is not in any way unusual or overprotective," someone wrote. "My kids have never met their un-vaxxed cousins, and mine are older and have the full series of childhood vaccines.

"Measles is one of the most contagious diseases we know of, and it can be deadly to babies. It’s present in the U.S. with recent outbreaks. Unvaccinated kids hang out with families with similar beliefs and outbreaks can happen at any time.

"It would be absolutely irresponsible to expose an infant too young to be vaccinated to this."

"Your parents made choices for you when you were a baby, now you are making choices for your baby. Your baby will not be scared of them after meeting at 6 months. That is crazy," one person reassured. 

According to one commenter, the MMR (measles, mumps, and rubella) vaccine isn't given until a baby is 1 year old, so they suggested that OP talk to their pediatrician about either an exception or waiting to meet unvaccinated family members until then. 

Diseases like whopping cough and the measles can be deadly to newborn babies. What would her family members say if one of them ended up getting her child sick? Would they take responsibility for what they did? 

A newborn baby's health is no joke. I wouldn't want unvaccinated people around my children, especially if they reacted the way OP's family did and tried to guilt me into it. I'd be tempted to extend the length of time just because of the way they're acting. 

It sounds like OP was bolstered and validated by the comments on her post, and she resolved to speak to her baby's pediatrician when the time comes. It absolutely sucks that she has to deal with all of this on top of everything that goes along with pregnancy, but she should stand her ground to protect her child. Her family members' responses are not her responsibility.