PP, you just said something I was thinking about after reading these posts yesterday. It's sad, but true, with 1 in 4 North American women sexually assaulted and 44% of them below the age of 18. This doesn't address the safety of the vaccine, and that may involve individual research, but as to whether the age is too young in terms of sexual exposure, unfortunately it may not be. Here's two sites with current stats:
http://www.sexassault.ca/statistics.htm
http://www.rainn.org/statistics
Should they be on the pill then in case they get raped? 
If you don't think it is safe - you don't think it is safe.
The talk on abstinence is interesting but somewhat irrelevant.
I am not skipping the HPV vax because I expect my girls to be virginal on their wedding day - I am skipping it due to the fact it is an untried vaccine with questionable effectiveness/safety and duration of immunity.
I found this piece from a well-credentialed scientist both compelling and though-provoking:
We do delayed/selective vax and are opting against this vaccine. And for the record, I'm not "spooked" about my daughter's sexuality; I'm skeptical of this vaccine. 
Should they be on the pill then in case they get raped?
No, but hopefully the parents will have built the kind of relationship where the girl will say what happened and be taken to a hospital where she will be given the morning after pill and tested for STDs, and given the information that she needs to be tested again in 6 months.
Some girls don't tell so they don't receive any services. Some end up far along in their pregnancies before any one realizes what happened. A girl at my DDs school become a mother at 13 because of this. She missed days of school in MIDDLE SCHOOL to go testify against her rapist/father of her child.
She's a sweet girl.
The long term effectiveness of the vaccine isn't really concerning me because, for me, that's less of an issue than general effectiveness and risks. We have more research to do.
I will say that I agree that straight talk, solid info, support, are all necessary. We've had some discussions about the meaning of rape, sex that is unwanted/forced. DD was reading a book in school this year that touched on the theme, so it provoked some good discussion, although I don't think that it was a "real" getting it--the concept is too far from her life experiences right now. But, for me as a mom, I have so many emotions when it comes to talking w/my dd about rape, violence, etc. It makes me so angry, and so protective. It is the real world. The conversations need to happen. The information and support needs to be there. My struggle is on a bigger level-but that's another conversation.
OK now my story about this vaccine, take it for whatever you think it's worth because it is likely we will never be able to prove anything. When I was 17ish and my sister was about 14 we both got this vaccine after the first injection my sister began having very irregular periods and by the time we finished the last of the injections my little sister had stopped having them completely. Of course this took awhile to happen because it took us almost a year to finish the series but after that my sister's health took a turn for the worse, it took almost four years of constant doctors visits and tests and trips to specialists to find out that she had premature ovarian failure, basically her body had attacked her ovaries and destroyed them. Now of course there is no way to prove anything but the timeline of her illness fits uncannily well with the vaccine series and while I wouldn't say that the vaccine caused this most of my family agree that it had a role in triggering this. Due to POF my little sister will be on a lifetime of hormones (which after a couple of years of experimenting they still haven't figured out a good combination and she is constantly sick and tired) and probably face other health issues. Although I do not wish to scare people off from this vaccine if they feel that the benefits outweigh the risks I would like to caution people. Of course take my story with a grain of salt, we don't know what caused this autoimmune reaction and we probably never will. Also as far as I am aware I have not had any ill effects from this vaccine (although I had many reactions as a child according to my mom) but I have been on birth control pills the entire time so who knows what will happen when I take those artificial hormones out of my body someday.
If you have an autoimmune disease it lays dorment in your body until something happens, a vaccine can very well do something like this. I have RA, my brother has something, they haven't figure his out yet, my mom has Guillan Barre. My brothers hit him after he got his Anthrax shots and they didn't finish all of them for him. His hair kept falling out and his thyroid went crazy. He also has huge issues with joint pain. My mom got her flu shot... Guillan Barre is now on the list ofs don't get the flu shot if you have... Mine started after an accident and illness combined. It's really a very interesting concept and more research needs to be done. The thing is, how do you know? I really think if you already have lots of allergies to medications it would be something to look into for yourself.
OK now my story about this vaccine, take it for whatever you think it's worth because it is likely we will never be able to prove anything. When I was 17ish and my sister was about 14 we both got this vaccine after the first injection my sister began having very irregular periods and by the time we finished the last of the injections my little sister had stopped having them completely. Of course this took awhile to happen because it took us almost a year to finish the series but after that my sister's health took a turn for the worse, it took almost four years of constant doctors visits and tests and trips to specialists to find out that she had premature ovarian failure, basically her body had attacked her ovaries and destroyed them. Now of course there is no way to prove anything but the timeline of her illness fits uncannily well with the vaccine series and while I wouldn't say that the vaccine caused this most of my family agree that it had a role in triggering this. Due to POF my little sister will be on a lifetime of hormones (which after a couple of years of experimenting they still haven't figured out a good combination and she is constantly sick and tired) and probably face other health issues. Although I do not wish to scare people off from this vaccine if they feel that the benefits outweigh the risks I would like to caution people. Of course take my story with a grain of salt, we don't know what caused this autoimmune reaction and we probably never will. Also as far as I am aware I have not had any ill effects from this vaccine (although I had many reactions as a child according to my mom) but I have been on birth control pills the entire time so who knows what will happen when I take those artificial hormones out of my body someday.
Wow, thanks for the discussion, its been very interesting.
This has been a great thread to read through. My oldest is only 6.5, but I have had trouble with the HPV virus in the past. I had 2 colposcopies for abnormal pap results. The second was positive and resulted in a LEEP (sp?) procedure, regular pap smears after and luckily all clear but it has caused a lot of stress for me, especially since I have had 2 grandparents die from terrible cancers, one when he was just 35 yo. (Not that this would be related, but I get paranoid anyhow.)
So, I'm watching this issue carefully. My (half) aunt's cancer journey began at a young age when she was treated for cervical cancer, and she died of multiple cancers at 63. Recently I hear that at least one HPV virus which causes cervical cancer is also proving to be the cause of multiple types of throat cancer.
Crazy. Scary for us paranoid folks. Now I read terrible stories about the vaccine itself!
I once heard that cervical cancer was more common for women under 35. Does anyone know about this?
This has been a great thread to read through. My oldest is only 6.5, but I have had trouble with the HPV virus in the past. I had 2 colposcopies for abnormal pap results. The second was positive and resulted in a LEEP (sp?) procedure, regular pap smears after and luckily all clear but it has caused a lot of stress for me, especially since I have had 2 grandparents die from terrible cancers, one when he was just 35 yo. (Not that this would be related, but I get paranoid anyhow.)
So, I'm watching this issue carefully. My (half) aunt's cancer journey began at a young age when she was treated for cervical cancer, and she died of multiple cancers at 63. Recently I hear that at least one HPV virus which causes cervical cancer is also proving to be the cause of multiple types of throat cancer.
Crazy. Scary for us paranoid folks. Now I read terrible stories about the vaccine itself!
I once heard that cervical cancer was more common for women under 35. Does anyone know about this?
I think statistically this is right, although I'd have to look it up again. What I do know is that the risk of contracting the HPV that causes most types of cervical cancer is traditionally higher in the under 35 age bracket because they are more likely to have just met a monogamous partner or to have multiple or a series of partners. Until recently, monogamous marriage by age 35 was relatively common, so STD that a person caught was more likely to rear its ugly head, and in women it often arrived silently and they later found they had cervical cancer. I'm not sure if these types of stats will remain the same because more people are choosing later marriage and/or polygamous life styles. I do know that by the new criteria, my doctor does a twice yearly Pap rather than yearly because of the number of years I've been in a monogamous partnership. (I'm also over 35, but that is incidental to the situation).
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