Tattoo artist and television personality Kat Von D attends an influencer launch of the new Kat Von D Beauty range at 15 Bateman Street on October 7, 2016 in London, England.
Jack Taylor/Getty Images for Kat Von D Beauty
She continued: “I also was prepared for the backlash and criticism we would get if we decided to be open about our personal approach to our pregnancy.”
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The 36-year-old Kat Von D Beauty founder also said she plans on having “a natural, drug-free home birth in water with a midwife and doula” and that she “has the intention of raising a vegan child, without vaccinations.”
Many fans became infuriated by Von D’s decision and announced a boycott of her cosmetics line.
I can't believe that Kat Von D isn't gonna vaccinate her kids. Absolute madness. Gutted as I've only recently bought her 10 year anniversary palette. Looks like I'm gonna have to boycott her brand. I don't like injections but I know they're vital for not only me, but others.
One of my goals for this year was to purchase less makeup, and I would like to thank Kat Von D for helping me make that goal a reality. With her recent announcement that she does not support vaccinations, I no longer will be tempted to support her brand. #boycottkatvond
@KATVONDbeauty people in some countries would kill for the ability to vaccinate themselves and their children and live without risk of death and disease but go off sis or whatever #boycottkatvond#vaccinateyourkids
A boycott is a natural response to decisions that hurt other people. Putting others lives at risk is not OK. No one has to respect that decision.
— Minnesota Timberwolves Official Burner Account! (@WolvesBurner) June 15, 2018
Beauty blogger Caroline Hirons shared an image of her then 23-year-old son when he was bed-ridden in the hospital after contracting mumps, a contagious disease that is easily preventable with vaccine, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
She tagged Von D in her caption, saying: “When I see people like @thekatvond using their platform to promote raising her unborn child ‘without vaccinations,’ I want her and the droves of ill-advised people underneath … to see and know that this is the reality of ‘benign disease.'”
Following the backlash, Von D took to Instagram again to explain her decision.
“My husband @prayers and I are NOT anti-vaxxers. We are not against vaccines. Just because we have hesitancies and valid concerns about injecting our baby with specific chemicals and toxins does not mean we are anti anything,” she wrote.
She continued: “While we believe medications, including vaccines, are not all bad — we also can’t dismiss the fact that some may not be good for everyone. There are plenty of studies that show some vaccinations can work wonders. And there are also studies that show some people [including mothers, and babies] may be more susceptible to vaccine injuries more than others.”
“When it comes to vaccinating our child, is also no one’s business — regardless of what I post on Instagram,” Von D wrote.
She also added that she has been receiving death wishes onto her “unborn child.” She turned the comments off on her most recent post because she doesn’t “plan on continuing this topic” and is not interested “in fighting anyone.”
When parents choose not to immunize their children, Dr. Joan Robinson, chair of the Canadian Pediatrics Society’s Infectious Diseases and Immunization committee, says they are putting other kids — especially children with compromised immune systems — at risk.
When they contract an infectious disease like chicken pox or measles, for example, their reaction will be far more severe than if a healthy child were to contract the same infectious disease, Robinson explains.
“These children tend to have a way more severe [experience] with the disease,” Robinson says. “With chicken pox, fortunately there is an anti-viral [medication] so the moment that child breaks out in chicken pox, they’ll be admitted to the hospital and given an IV of the medication and generally they will do fine. However, they can end up with severe consequences if the diagnosis is not recognized early on.”
But when it comes to measles, Robinson says that’s where things can get dangerous.
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“We still have no treatment for measles,” she says. “So there’s actually far more concern that a child can die from measles.”
Besides staying away from infected individuals, children with compromised immune systems actually have no preventative way of protecting themselves from contracting infectious diseases. While healthy children can be vaccinated, immunosuppressed children are unable to receive any vaccination that contains a live virus, Robinson explains.
“Now the virus has been what we call attenuated, which means it’s been changed into a much weaker form of the virus,” Robinsons says. “So anyone with a normal immune system, if they’re given that vaccine, there’s no way they would ever get — for example — full-blown measles or chicken pox. They might get a bit of a rash but they will not get very sick and probably not even be contagious. But someone who is immunosuppressed, if you gave them the vaccine, the concern is they might get full-blown measles or chicken pox from the vaccine and can even die from it.”
So bottom line, says Robinson, is that when parents vaccinate their kids, they’re not only protecting their own child, but others as well, especially those who are vulnerable and unable to protect themselves.
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