Kailyn Lowry is one of the stars of the MTV show Teen Mom 2. Like a lot of the women on the show, Kailyn has opinions and isn't afraid to share them. One of her opinions is that children do not need to receive the traditional set of childhood vaccines that a lot of kids get.
In and of itself, this is already a controversial stance. Whole friendships have ended over exactly this question. But now Kailyn has taken her stance a step further and insisted that her children will not receive a vaccine for the coronavirus, if and when one is developed.
A little recap: At the time of writing, over a million cases of the virus have been documented worldwide, and more than 50,000 people have died — all in less than six months. And while early on in the pandemic it seemed like children might not be affected by the virus, there have been hundreds of children who have contracted the virus. Some kids have died from it.
Of course, parents are allowed to decide what they do and don't expose their children to … but understandably, Kailyn has received a lot of pushback since she made her views known.
When one follower pointed out that the numbers surrounding the virus are really huge and scary, Kailyn said that she agrees — and that's why she and her children are staying home. Another person asked, "You want a world without vaccines? Well here is the world without ONE vaccine. Wanna keep going?" but Kailyn didn't reply.
This isn't the first time Kailyn has stirred up vaccine-related drama online. In 2019, a listener of her podcast Coffee Convos asked this question: "Wondering if you and Kail can talk about the well-known controversy of vaccines. I’m a mother of three and I’ve always said that I would never be ‘that mom,’ but recently I’ve read so many horrifying stories about vaccines like the MMR [measles, mumps, and rubella], some absolutely devastating stories."
The listener continued, "I vaccinated my two older girls and never even thought twice about it, but now I’m paranoid to vaccinate my 5-month baby boy. I would love to know both of your opinions."
Kailyn cohosts the podcast with Lindsie Chrisley, from USA Network's Chrisley Knows Best.
Kailyn was only too happy to give her thoughts. Knowing the topic is a heated one for parents, she tried to keep her language pretty neutral. "I definitely think this is a controversial topic, and I don’t want to lose listeners because of my opinion — but I did vaccinate Isaac, because to me, I didn’t know any better, and I gave — I let them vaccinate him with whatever they basically said that he needed. And I feel like I was ignorant, and didn’t do research, and didn’t know any better."
But then she added that with her son Lincoln, she slowed down on the vaccines. "With Lincoln, I knew a little bit more, and I started to research more, and that’s when I think the conversations of vaccines started to really be going on with me and my friends that became moms. And there were documentaries on Netflix, and all kinds of, just, news that I would try to look into. Lincoln did not get all of his vaccines. I definitely picked and chose which ones I felt like were necessary, and he did not get them all at once."
And it turns out that her youngest, Lux, isn't vaccinated at all. "He hasn’t ever really been sick, and for me, I just think the more research that I do, and the more educated I’ve become, I just don’t vaccinate him. So that’s my opinion, and I don’t judge Lindsey if she chooses to vaccinate, or anyone else who chooses to vaccinate — that’s your prerogative. You’re a parent, you know what’s best for your child, and I’m not here to judge."
Kailyn was asked for a comment on the matter by In Touch Weekly, and she told the publication, "I mean, I guess the only thing I can really say and continue to stand for is to parent how it’s best for your child and family. People don’t love everything I do but I don’t shove my beliefs down anyone else’s throat. I know what’s best for my kids and other parents know what’s best for theirs."
She said that this also applies to anything that her ex, Javi Marroquin, wants to do with the child they share together. "He texted me asking me how I felt about Lincoln getting a flu shot because I guess he told me that [his girlfriend] Lauren is a big believer in vaccines. So, I said ‘Whatever you guys choose to do with your son is fine, but my son’s not getting the flu vaccine.'"
It seems that Kailyn's controversial stance on vaccines is rooted in her belief that childhood vaccines can cause autism. Aside from the obvious ableism that's present in this belief, it's also been proven to be scientifically false. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has stated, "Some people have suggested that thimerosal (a compound that contains mercury) in vaccines given to infants and young children might be a cause of autism."
"Others have suggested that the MMR (measles-mumps-rubella) vaccine may be linked to autism. However, numerous scientists and researchers have studied and continue to study the MMR vaccine and thimerosal, and reach the same conclusion: there is no link between MMR vaccine or thimerosal and autism."
Parents are definitely entitled to make the decisions they want for their children, and to her credit, Kailyn has done a good job trying to discuss a topic that is so sensitive for so many. But grounding her beliefs about vaccines in ideas that have been proven to be completely false may be a dangerous step for her to have taken.
