“[T]hough there may be a virtually infinite number of causes of a complex system’s malfunctioning, there are only so many ways in which that malfunction can manifest itself.” — Iain McGilchrist, regarding autism not being a "unitary" condition (The Matter with Things, page 325)

The same goes for the various LGBTQ+ identities. There are a virtually infinite number of causes. Another commenter mentioned that all of her sons are unvaccinated, but the youngest is gay. That's not surprising because "the older brother effect" has consistently shown that the more older brothers a boy has, the more likely he is to be homosexual.

It makes some sense to me that vaccines could be *contributing* to the rise in LGBTQ+ identification and gender dysphoria, just as they most likely are *contributing* to the autism epidemic, but I think it's ridiculous to infer from correlational data like this that vaccines are the primary cause. No, there's too many confounding and intersecting variables. To give a well-established example, giving a child Tylenol before or after vaccination significantly increases the risk that they will later be diagnosed with autism, as Tylenol depletes glutathione and impairs the body's ability to detox heavy metals. Tylenol became the go-to painkiller for children right around the time the autism rates really started to skyrocket (the early 1980s). (No, I am not claiming Tylenol is the *primary* cause of autism or anything else either; it's *a* factor, and I have no idea how great of one compared to others).

I know a handful of anti-vaccine parents. Here's some *significant* confounding variables I've observed:

- Anti-vax parents are more likely to be skeptical of Big Pharma in general, and thus are less likely to use other pharmaceuticals on themselves and their children that might contribute to developmental disorders, mental illnesses, physical illnesses, and LGBTQ+ identification (e.g. birth control pills, Tylenol, SSRIs, or heck, I'm pregnant right now and not using PRE-NATAL VITAMINS because I've read enough about heavy metals in them and the problems with synthetic nutrients to be like, hey, I'm going to gulp down beef liver, cod liver oil, blackstrap molasses, and moringa leaf powder instead, wish me luck).

- Anti-vax parents are more likely to feed their children healthy whole food diets, avoiding highly processed foods and refined sugar and refined flour. More likely to buy organic and avoid pesticides, more likely to worry about glyphosate. Glyphosate is also implicated as a contributing factor in autism and various other chronic health issues.

- Anti-vax parents are more likely to have a stay-at-home or working-part-time mother; parents are more likely to practice attachment parenting, and are less likely to use early daycare, to sleep train, etc. Early daycare use, childhood emotional neglect, and poor parent-child attachment are implicated as risk factors for autism, ADHD, and other mental and physical health conditions. It's also quite obvious to many of us that this is a significant contributing factor in LGBTQ+ identification, in particular gender dysphoria.

- Anti-vax mothers are more likely to avoid baby formula and to breastfeed longer.

People who "follow the science" (follow mainstream journalist, government, and medical advice) are more likely to be "by the book" people in general. My Substack has a handful of essays about how left-brain thinking, parenting according to popular parenting books, and pushing academic achievement on children prematurely while neglecting right-hemisphere development (e.g. play, music, spirituality/religion, nature, being in one's body, socializing) are likely contributing to the rising rates of autism/ADHD and gender identity issues.

Assuming vaccines do cause injuries in some people (at this point, I believe they do) ... we should also ask what are the risk factors that make this more likely? The harsh truth is that children with nutritional deficiencies, children with higher stress levels (e.g. from being prematurely put in daycare, having the cry-it-out method used on them, or just straight-up parental abuse and/or neglect), children who are exposed to other harmful pharmaceuticals (e.g. Tylenol, or SSRIs or birth control pills via the mother), and children who are formula fed instead of breastfed are all more likely to become vaccine injured.

It's multifactorial. Incredibly multifactorial. Children who are born prematurely are more likely to be diagnosed with autism (some combination of less time in the womb and NICU trauma). Premature male children are more likely to be homosexual, bisexual, or asexual (perhaps something to do with missing testosterone exposure in the third trimester ... these boys are also more likely to become transgender). But again, lots of confounding variables here too, including that premature children are more vulnerable to vaccines, breastfeeding might be disrupted, and various causes of premature birth are likely confounds (e.g. maternal stress; why is mom stressed?).

There is research and anecdotal evidence that LGBTQ+ children are more likely to have parents (in particular mothers) with a Cluster B disorder. There is evidence that narcissism has been rising in the population for DECADES, in particular among elite college students, and work by Abigail Shrier, Lisa Littman etc all indicate that affluent children with elite, college-educated parents are one of the major at-risk groups for gender dysphoria. (Again, so many confounds, including that many of these parents might be undiagnosed autistic).

Similarly, the "refrigerator mother" theory of autism was *never* actually debunked. Find me the study debunking that cold parenting can be *a* cause of autism. It doesn't exist. I looked. There are studies finding *other* causes of autism, but that only proves that cold parenting is not *THE* singular cause, and that it's probably not a cause in every case or the only cause in any one case. It's still *a* cause, *a* contributing factor. But again, autism is *not* one condition. See the quote I opened with.

There's no simple narrative here. None. It's not just vaccines, or social media, or smartphones, or school indoctrination, or "bad therapy", or Tylenol, or glyphosate, or daycare use, or pushing your child to be a baby Einstein at the expense of their childhood, or *anything*. It's a bunch of stuff. To some extent, unique in every case.

I've been wandering through books and articles trying to untangle this puzzle since 2019. My Substack (started only in December 2023) is where I'm sharing the research. Slowly, because the long-form, heavily-researched essays take a long time to put together and I'm a STAH mom to a toddler and pregnant with my second. And if I have any major takeaways from all of this, it's put your children first. But I'm also scared people don't want to hear this. Simple explanations are easier. Blaming vaccines, or teachers, or therapists, or social media is easier than examining your family history, our broader culture, the waters we swim in. I'm not judging anyone, I'm not trying to assign blame. I care about the puzzle, and our children.

Sorry this ended up being so long, I got on a roll and my daughter miraculously slept in to let me finish writing this out. Please consider.