PONTIAC, Mich. – A Ferndale woman plans to appeal a decision made during mediation in a custody suit Wednesday after she spent nearly a week in jail for refusing an order to vaccinate her 9-year-old son.
Rebecca Bredow will now split custody of the boy with her former husband, James Horne. Bredow had majority custody prior to the hearing.
"Today was supposed to be a review on vaccinations," Bredow said. "I wasn't expecting to lose primary custody today of my son. I feel a bit spun around and in shock expecting him to come home today and I'm a little upset."
Bredow signed an agreement last November to get her son vaccinated and she agreed to the immunizations. She violated the agreement and spent five days in jail.
She was released Monday and said it was the worst experience of her life.
Bredow and Horne had an annulment and claimed they shared an anti-vaccination opinion, but Horne changed his mind.
Many fear vaccines cause greater harm than they prevent and Bredow wanted to turn the proceedings into a debate about vaccinating children, but Judge Karen McDonald made it clear a debate was not the reason they were in court.
The boy received four of the vaccinations Monday while Bredow was in jail.
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