The Truth About Mayim Bialik's Controversial Parenting Techniques

Parents can't (and likely don't) expect everyone to agree with each and every one of the choices that they make on behalf of their children, which is something that Mayim Bialik knows well. The former cast member of The Big Bang Theory is the mother to two children, sons Miles and Frederick, who she shares with her ex-husband, Michael Stone. 

Bialik, who has found success (and earned a fortune) thanks to her onscreen career tends to make decisions based on what she feels is best for her kids. Case in point? In addition to returning to acting in order to get health insurance for her family, she's also homeschooling her boys, raising her children as vegans, and declining to give her kids an allowance. 

As understandable — or unusual — as those parenting techniques might seem depending on your perspective, they're not the most controversial choices regarding her children that Bialik may or may not have made.

Mayim Bialik stirred up trouble and "disappoint[ed]" her fans when the actress seemed to suggest that she doesn't support vaccinating children — a situation that other stars like Kat Von D and Jim Carrey have also faced. Apparently, Bialik — who's a "natural parenting advocate," according to Rolling Stone — "has a complicated relationship with vaccines." What does that mean? Well, she's "previously said her family is a 'non-vaccinating' one and plugged books by anti-vaccine activist Dr. Bob Sears, among others." 

The former Big Bang Theory star promoted the anti-vaccine books in a blog post for Kveller, a website that focuses on advice for Jewish parents, in May 2012. However, in February 2015, Bialik took to Twitter to attempt to "[dispell] rumors [about her] stance on vaccines." She explained, "i'm not anti. my kids are vaccinated." Noting that she had faced "so much anger and hysteria," in response to reports that she hadn't vaccinated her children, she added, "i hope this clears things up."

While Bialik could have left things there, she followed up her initial message with another tweet, writing, "honestly, people. do your research. do what's right for you. let me live my life and you live yours."