Turns out that new grandparents vaccines are necessary before the elderly interact with infant grandchildren, reports the Boston Globe.
New grandparents need to get vaccinated against pertussis (also called whooping cough) in order to protect babies less than six months old. This is because children less than six months can’t receive the whooping cough vaccine themselves.
The recommendation comes down from the American Academy of Pediatrics, reports the Globe. As a result of the recommendation, anyone that is over age 65 and caring for a baby needs to receive the so called Tdap vaccine — tetanus-diptheria-acellular pertussis. (Try saying that even slightly faster).
What vaccinations a grandparent has may not seem important at first, but it is something that could come up during a grandparent custody issue in Texas.
After all, it may sometimes be the case that the biological grandparents of a child might try and get full custody of their grandson or granddaughter. Perhaps the parent of the child has been incarcerated and is unable to take care of the child, or maybe the biological parents are dead and the child needs to be placed with a new legal guardian.
FindLaw states that it could be very difficult for grandparents to attain custody of a child if it is against the wishes of the child's biological parent or parents. A judge in Harris County will most often consider the child's best interest as the main factor in making any child custody decision, including decisions that involve grandparent custody.
If the grandparent is awarded custody of a child, then he or she has the same rights as any other parent and can legally make decisions about the child's upbringing. The Texas Attorney General's Office reports that grandparents can even sometimes receive child support money if a grandparent is declared to be the custodial parent of a child.
For more information about grandparent custody in Texas, please see below.
Related Resources:
ShareThis
