Why this Seattle mom finally got her kids vaccinated after years of saying no

Seattle mom Elthea Farr was always open with her kids about why they weren’t vaccinated.

But she recently told them it was time. Her son, Xaven, age 11, described the scene: “She was like, we’re gonna have to get vaccinated on Wednesday, okay? And I was like, oookaaay.”

Farr's daughter, Amaleia, age 8, chimed in: "Also because we’re going to see our baby cousin, and we don’t want to give him any diseases because that would be bad.”

Farr didn't vaccinate her kids because she worried that her children were too young, their immune systems too immature. It was a decision she and her husband arrived at together.

“We felt like we were two intelligent parents who had a high degree of faith in medical science,” Farr said. “When a lot of these diseases” — measles, mumps and rubella — “were theoretically eradicated, we felt like it was worth the risk to have the children go unvaccinated.”

But she never felt comfortable talking about it. “A lot of times as a selective or anti vaxxer, I've been told nobody wants to hear that,” Farr said. “So I've kept my opinions to myself.”

As the children got older things changed. Farr and her husband separated. She was also diagnosed with cancer, and her immune system became compromised.

Farr says the risks became too great, and the family made a different choice.

Getting her two kids, ages 8 and 11, up to speed on vaccines will take months.

This bill would require that most school-aged children receive the MMR vaccine, which protects against measles, mumps, and rubella. The law would ban the personal exemption – one of three ways to opt out of getting a vaccine in Washington state. Students could still have a religious or medical reason.

People can still decide not to vaccinate, they just won’t be allowed to attend public schools and day cares.

A version of the bill passed the Senate Wednesday night. The bill that passed the Senate was the original version from the House, which will likely concur next week.

The legislative action follows a measles outbreak in Clark County that infected 74 people. Public hearings on the legislation have drawn overflow crowds and emotional testimony from people like Amber Eleazar from Newman Lake.

"My grandson was almost killed by his MMR vaccine. He now has a medical exemption. But we will never take that chance again with our children or our grandchildren," Eleazar told a senate committee.

Bill sponsor Paul Harris told a Senate committee about how the measles outbreak cases affected his district in Clark County.

“I had 900 students who missed 30 days of school,” Harris said. “I have students today with compromised immune systems who are not in school today.”

Kimberly Cancelosi of Ferndale, in northern Washington state, has three unvaccinated children in public school. Cancelosi noted that schools already can exclude kids during an outbreak.

“I haven’t heard anyone give a real explanation why it makes sense to move from a temporary exclusion to the permanent exclusion of health children from school,” she said.

An earlier hearing in Olympia drew an overflow crowd, including Dr. Jason Kinley, a naturopathic doctor from Spokane, who described himself as “a primary care physician who says no to mandatory vaccines.”

Critics of the legislation say the change would force parents make an unfair choice: Vaccinate your kids or homeschool them.

If the legislation passes, schools and daycare centers will be responsible for maintaining vaccination records for staff and students. It’s unclear what resources that would demand.

Elthea Farr of Seattle believes the law goes too far – even though she ultimately changed her own mind. She believes vaccines should be a family decision.

“If I question the absolute health of my child, I want to be able to make sure that no foreign substances go in his body,” Farr said. “I’m going to do organic foods and I’m going to do natural medicines. All that’s born of love.”

For Farr, having the choice is the most important thing.