Can I vaccinate my child without the father's permission in Illinois?

Only if your allocation judgment or parenting plan gives you sole responsibility for the child's health decisions, or if there is another court order in place regarding the same. If you share health decisions, you need the other parent's agreement or a court order. Parenting time does not change this. Having the child with you does not let you consent to a non-emergency vaccine on your own.

My ex vaccinated our child without my consent. What can I do?

If your order required a joint decision, you can ask the court to enforce the order and hold the other parent in contempt. You can also ask the judge to change how the two of you make future health decisions. The court cannot reverse the vaccine. If the order gave your ex sole health decision-making, they had the right to decide. Your remedy is a request to modify that allocation.

Can I take my ex to court for refusing to vaccinate our child?

Yes, after mediation if your parenting plan requires mediation first. You ask the court to modify decision-making so that you can make the vaccine decision. You will need to show a substantial change in circumstances and that the vaccine serves your child's best interests. The pediatrician's recommendation and public health guidance are the kind of evidence the court relied on in Jones. A court can give you the decision on that one vaccine without changing the rest of the order.

Can I get my child a flu shot during my parenting time if we share medical decisions?

Not without the other parent's agreement. A flu shot is a planned health decision. The statute's emergency exception for a parent's own parenting time does not cover it. If your co-parent refuses and your plan has no tie-breaker, the dispute goes to mediation and then to the court.

Joyce Jezeer, Author at Anderson Boback & Marshall

Can I Vaccinate My Child Without My Ex’s Permission in Illinois?

Posted By Joyce Jezeer

Published November 4, 2026

Categorized as Child Custody

Whether you need permission from your ex to vaccinate your child will be found in your parenting order. In Illinois that order is the allocation judgment or parenting plan. It says who makes significant health decisions for your child: you alone, your co-parent alone, or the two of you together. If you hold that responsibility

Author: Joyce Jezeer

Can I Vaccinate My Child Without My Ex’s Permission in Illinois?