Kristin Cavallari Defends Anti-Vaccine Stance: 'I'm Trying to Make Best Decision for my Kid,' Star Says
MTV star Kristin Cavallari, 27, has made a controversial decision concerning her children's health that has many speaking out against her. The mother of one, who is currently expecting her second, has decided not to have her children vaccinated for fear of a link to autism.
"Vaccines are not something I wanted to publicly come out and speak on," Cavallari told HuffPost Live. "I sort of got bombarded in this interview and thrown off-guard. There's really scary statistics out there, and to each their own. Autism wasn't prevalent – like it is now – years ago, so something is going on, whether it's the chemicals in our food or the vaccines. Something is happening, and we can't really ignore that. I choose to believe that I think it's in the vaccines, but again, to each their own and that's where I stand on it."
Jenny McCarthy is one of, if not the, most famous anti-vaccine celebrity parent. She firmly believes that vaccines led to her son's autism-like symptoms. For a while, many believed that she had faked her son's symptoms in order to promote her own cause and crusade against vaccination.
"Stories circulating online, claiming that I said my son Evan may not have autism after all, are blatantly inaccurate and completely ridiculous," she tweeted earlier this year. "Evan was diagnosed with autism by the Autism Evaluation Clinic at the UCLA Neuropsychiatric Hospital and was confirmed by the State of California (through their Regional Center). The implication that I have changed my position, that my child was not initially diagnosed with autism (and instead may suffer from Landau-Kleffner Syndrome), is both irresponsible and inaccurate."
As for Cavallari, she defended her own views on "Watch What Happens Live" with Andy Cohen.
"I'm just a mom," she said. "I'm trying to make the best decision for my kid. There are very scary statistics out there regarding what is in vaccines … We feel like we're making the best decision for our kids."
