The Coronavirus pandemic has presented parents with a number of challenges and potential sources of conflict. Now, vaccines are creating yet another source of contention between some divorced or never-married parents: whether to inoculate their children against the deadly disease. As they increasingly disagree over how to handle the shots, some parents are taking their disputes to court.

Parents have already had to navigate decisions such as in person versus remote learning and whether it was safe for their child to ride a school bus. Vacation travel has also proven contentious, with parents disagreeing about whether it was safe to travel to other states or countries and, if so, which ones.

The vaccine issue emerged this spring, after the Food and Drug Administration declared that children as young as 12 could get the vaccine. At that time, it was reported that the virus mainly affected adults. But by summer, when the Delta variant took hold, statistics showed that thousands of adolescents were becoming severely sick—and even dying.

Suddenly, vaccinating children against the Coronavirus became a critical question that parents sharing legal custody had to discuss. Until a child reaches adulthood and the age of consent, usually age 18, those who share the child’s legal custody must agree on all non-emergency medical treatment.

Typically, disputes about such medical decisions involve whether to allow a child to take a prescription drug, like Adderall for ADHD. But parents with shared legal custody must also agree on preventive care, including vaccinations. As vaccine hesitancy grows and politics clouds almost everything related to the Coronavirus, discussions about whether to get the Covid-19 vaccine have become more contentious than ever.

Parents should approach the vaccine issue as they do every other custody question: focusing on the best interests of the child. The problem is that when it comes to making decisions involving the Coronavirus, one parent’s vision of the child’s best interests can be the other’s worst nightmare.

For instance, one parent may want to follow the government’s recommendations to vaccinate the child, while the other may worry that the vaccine is too new and could still prove to have long-term, as yet unknown side effects. Some parents may have had bad vaccine reactions in the past or think that their child’s history of allergies could cause medical harm. Yet others may be concerned that an unvaccinated child could put health-impaired family members at grave medical risk, spreading the disease to relatives who are immunocompromised.

There aren’t just biological pros and cons; there are psychological issues as well. In some school districts, unvaccinated children are barred from participating in extracurricular activities, including playing sports. The lack of regular social interaction can be especially damaging to children, many of whom are still recovering from the psychological and emotional effects of lockdowns, quarantines, and remote learning.

If parents can’t agree on whether to vaccinate their child, they should consult an attorney. The issues can get complicated fast—and have far-reaching legal implications. If mishandled, parents could even put their custody rights in jeopardy.

For example, while unilaterally getting a child vaccinated may seem like an easy way for one parent to get his or her way, the parent who does so could be in contempt of the court order that gave them joint legal custody and could risk losing the right to be involved in the child’s medical care at all. The parent in contempt could also be required to pay the other party’s legal fees in the case.

First « 1 2 » Next