Choosing not to vaccinate, difficult GP & getting CO form signed

After doing much research into vaccinations starting from when I was pregnant, DH & I have come to the conclusion that we do not feel the benefits outweigh the risks of vaccinations at this point in our sons life. We have chosen not to vaccinate to date (DS is 9 months old) and want to find a GP that will not judge and has a fairly open mind on this issue! We are really struggling as the last GP we tried refused to sign the conscientious objection form, and basically implied they could refuse us as clients because our son could pose a risk to other children being unvaxxed!! I am so sick of being treated like crap by doctors. They may have the view that immunization is safe until proven otherwise but my opinion is the opposite, and I definitely feel I am acting in my childs best interest and we are very well researched and informed on both sides of the fence. We want to get the form signed as something about 'voicing' our objection rather than looking like "we don't have the time" or whatnot (statistically) to not vaccinate appeals to us.

Rant aside (sorry just had to get that out)... Does anyone know a doctor in Sydney (we are moving from the Hills District to Penrith area but are open to travel if need be) that has a sympathetic or open minded view about vaccinations and will sign a CO form? I am just so sick of arguing with doctors only to be left feeling so upset, let down and alone :( hope someone can help!! I really want a good, non-biased family GP - I can't believe how hard they are to find!


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I have a few friends in the western sydney area (not in Penrith but close enough) who are non Vaxxers, I will ask for you :)

I really appreciate you doing that for me Efjay! Looking forward to your response :)


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Have you tried your local maternal healthcare nurse. They are allowed to sign it. They are supposed to run you through the risks etc but not lather on the guilt with it! Goodluck, which reminds me, I must go and get our form signed!!!!

Ring your local council and ask for an appt with one of the vaccination nurses. This will often be at one of their vacc clinics (maybe just before it starts) and they will do their spiel, and you can say your bit and then they will sign the form. THey are not signing that they agree with your decision, just that they have informed you of the 'risks' etc.

My friend said she just went to the bulkbill medical center at Plumpton. I suspect you could probably go into any medical center & one of the over worked, don't care, just want to get you out the door Dr would sign it.

Thanks ladies. I told the doctor exactly that, that she wasn't signing to agree etc etc and apparently doctors with immunisation numbers have to sign it by law, but all that still doesn't stop them from saying NO. it's just so difficult and the thought of going through it all again is depressing! I really wanted to find a good, decent family doctor especially for my baby though, so perhaps I'll ask that in another section, as it looks like I may end up needing to call the council as suggested if I don't think of anything else. Thanks for your suggestions..


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Hope you get it sorted out. The GP I went to had no problem signing the form, he was pro vac although was very well aware of the 'real' reasons that many parents are now choosing not to vaccinate. I haven't lodged the form anywhere, I didn't even really look over it to tell you the truth, I just wanted to have it in case I needed it one day.

On the GP side of things that is really rude of the ones that you have seen, they are required to sign the blooming form if you ask for it!!! Their obligation is to inform you and then sign the form. No wonder a GP is the last person our family goes to if we are sick, most of them have no idea! :wall: 1st it's the chiro, acupuncturist, chinese herbs, naturopath or any other alternative therapist... then in the rare case we still have a problem I would see a GP! (sorry a bit off topic)

Cherished1 - no, no not off topic!! Thank you so much for your post. I am soo keen on educating myself more about the alternatives. When I stuffed my GPs crappy (as always, no matter where I go) advice and went to a naturopath for myself regarding vitamin deficiencies it was the best decision I made! FINALLY someone I could connect with and loved their advice. The thing is I don't know much in this arena about alternative practitioners and who to see for what etc etc and who is good with babies so I really want to delve further, as like you I am just sick of GPs I see being completely hopeless - I do avoid going at all costs and I'm over it! I would love to hear any advice you have, whether you could reply on here or send me a PM I'd really appreciate it :) as I'd very much like to go further on that topic. Oh what relief not feeling like you have to go to a GP!

And yes they were so rude to not sign because it was 'against their beliefs'. It should be about allowing Parents to make informed decisions for their own children regardless of their personal opinions! they were so biased it's not funny and didn't bother to share anything to back up their belief, how could you accept such narrow-mindedness to take care of your families health & well-being? And to be implied at the start (before I debated my view and stats) that they werent going to take me on as a patient because my son could pose a risk to other patients! Omg hearing crap like that gets right under my skin. They should not think they can treat my baby like a diseased ridden person (when he is the healthiest baby i know) with zero facts about the unvaxxed being anymore of a risk and talk about discrimination and not to mention most of all it hurts me so much as a Mum to hear someone talk of my son that way! (there I go again... ranting away) x


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Oh hun, I totally feel you on this! I had a horrific experience trying to get my form signed. Here was my story

I hope you have some luck finding a GP that is supportive! If you end up seeing one of the council vaccination nurses, my suggestion would probably be to be quite frank with them to begin with. Maybe start by telling them you understand that they have to inform you of the risks of not vaccinating, and that you already know about them, but that you also understand the risks and it's your decision at this time not to vaccinate and you want them to respect that decision. I wish I had been more forceful when I met with them because they may not have been so horrible to me. Good luck!

What is the form for? Can't you just not do the vacc's? Not trying to be rude or anything, I am in NZ and I am just curious.
The Dr's practice nurse asked if I was intending to vaccinate and I said no so she took me off the reminder list and kindy didn't say anything at all when I enrolled DS.

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Children who have a conscientious objection recorded on the Immunisation Register still remain eligible for the family assistance payments that have an immunisation eligibility criteria, such as the Child Care Benefit and Maternity Immunisation Allowance. More information about these payments and the immunisation exemptions is available from

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thats part of an email I received from the Childhood Immunisation Register, which isn't really the reason why I am doing it, I would just like to keep the form handy in the case it is needed in future ie submitting it with pre-school/school forms so there won't be any questions asked, and going on the database as a conscientious objector seems like a good idea to me so it shows that I have made a conscious decision to not vaccinate, and I'm not not doing it because I possibly didn't get around to it if you know what I mean. The more CO the more chance we'd have at a goverment that may start to listen to our concerns! (in my dream land... lol) ;)

oh mylitta :hug: you must really know how i feel! I'm so sorry to hear what happened to you. It really is not fair and there is no way that we should be treated like that. Makes me wonder why they are so close minded and having medical people like that certainly isn't going to help things improve. Some people are so stuck in their ways of thinking that they just will not listen no matter what we have to say or how compelling it is. It's sad really, isn't it!

Ah well... I have decided to make phone calls to GPs to make sure they are willing to sign it before I waste my time and go in... I really should have done that in the first place!

This is by no means a criticism I respect all peoples decisions but I am just wondering why u dont want to immunise?
I am guessing any dr that wants u in and out quickly will be ok to sign it. Its a shame ur current dr wont.

Kat if you search "vaccination" on this forum you will find a multitude of posts on the reasons people may choose not to vaccinate.

Yeah what shades said! :) I don't really want to go into it all on this thread as that wasn't what this particular question was about, but just in summary it hasn't been an easy decision at all and I have concluded that given our situation (stay at home baby & Mum, breastfeeding etc) at this point the risks outweigh the benefits of vaccination. I also don't agree with the current schedule and injecting tiny little baby's with adult dosage 26 rounds of diseases in their first year, i think that's way too much on such an immature immune system and may choose to delay and vax on my own schedule if at all, which I will re-evaluate when my son enters school but as it stands I am not willing or happy to vaccinate after the multitude of studies, statistics and experiences I have seen and researched. One poster in hear (yeddi) i have noticed in many threads says spot on my reasons for not vaccinating, which are so many, but not for this thread x hope this is ok and feel free to pm me if you'd like to discuss this matter further, but I don't want this thread being a vax debate (I know you weren't trying to start that though) :)


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oh no I'm sorry i didn't mean it to become a debate I was just curious thats all.
As I said I respect people have the rights to their own beliefs and make their own choices in regards to vacc's I was just wondering thats all

No worries kat! And a big congratz on your pregnancy (just saw your ticker as I have been using tapatalk)!

Just thought I'd pop in to let anyone who's interested know that I finally got the form signed! DH gave a local doctor a buzz and asked straight out if they'd sign it and the doc just said no worries that's completely your choice and it was the quickest, easiest appointment ever, as just said simply that we'd done all our research and that was our choice end of story! Yay super easy so here it is and will just keep it handy for when we think is best to submit it, just so glad it's over! :)


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That's great! I'm glad it was so easy in the end :)


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