HPV vaccination: parents' rights

All girls are offered the HPV vaccine routinely when they are 12-13 years old – that is when they are in year eight at school.

Girls are offered the vaccine to protect them against cervical cancer. Around 1,000 women die from cervical cancer in the UK each year.

Read the NHS leaflet about the HPV vaccine.

Why will my daughter be offered the HPV vaccination before she’s 16?

The virus that causes cervical cancer, called human papilloma virus (HPV), is spread by having sex or being sexually intimate with another person who has the virus. So it’s natural that, as a parent, you may question why the HPV vaccine will be given to your daughter before she reaches the age of consent at 16.

While most girls don’t start having sex until they’re 16 or older, it’s best for them to be vaccinated a few years earlier so they get the most benefit from the vaccine.

If the HPV vaccine is given after a young woman has become sexually active, it’s possible she may already be infected with the virus, and it’s therefore too late for the vaccine to fully protect her.

Read more about the HPV virus and how it affects you.

What if my daughter doesn’t want the HPV vaccination?

Your daughter has to sign a consent form before she can be vaccinated. So she doesn’t have to have the HPV vaccine if she doesn’t want to. However, it’s worth making sure she’s thought things through. The HPV vaccine has a good safety record and will protect her against cervical cancer for many years.

Suggest she speaks to the nurse or doctor if she wants more information, on her own, or with you if she’d prefer.

What if my daughter wants the vaccination, but I’d rather she didn’t have it?

The decision to have the vaccine is legally your daughter's, as long as she understands the issues in giving consent. Discuss this with your daughter, the doctor or nurse to get more information.

Page last reviewed: 24/09/2024

Next review due: 24/09/2024

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The 3 comments about ‘HPV vaccination: parents' rights - Vaccinations - NHS Choices’ posted are personal views. Any information they give has not been checked and may not be accurate.

SHCumbria said on 21 October 2024

A young person is deemed to have the capacity to consent to straightforward, relatively risk-free treatment but may not necessarily have the capacity to consent to complex treatment involving high risks or serious consequences.

However, since we are all told that this vaccine is safe and risk free it could be deemed that they have the capacity to consent. Make sure you read the Medicine Guide for this vaccine on NHS Choices. It tells you that some side effects are serious.

Please make sure they are aware of the significant risks and mis-information about this vaccine

JustmeJem said on 02 October 2024

In response to Mrs Hallidays post, I also did my own research whilst deciding if my daughter should have the vaccine and found the same information. I therefore decided not to consent to my daughter having the vaccine. My daughter also decided that she did not want to have it.

She has brought home a slip this morning from the school giving her an appointment time for tomorrow for her to have the vaccine. Luckily she had the sense to give this to me else the school would be senselessly sticking needles into my daughter and pumping her full of chemicals against my will.

I was appalled to discover that my daughter can give consent to her own vaccination at 12 years old. How can they prove that a child as young as 12 'understands the issues in giving consent'. Consent is defined in the dictionary of law as sufficient mental capacity to make an intelligent decision demonstrates consent by performing an act recommended by another.

My daughter also thinks it would be fun to jump in the local river and swim with her friends. The dangers relating to this are apparent from the number of deaths reported from children jumping rivers and drowning under the current or getting stuck in mud or even contracting diseases associated with unclean water. She also thinks its ok to ride her bike without a helmet. I believe the statistics relating to children dying or becoming seriously injured due to road traffic collisions as a result of not wearing a helmet are far greater than the number of women who die every year in the uk from cervical cancer.

But its perfectly acceptable for her to sign her own consent form.

If something doesn't seem quite right, it probably isnt.

Mrs Halliday said on 07 June 2024

I have asked the Department of Health to supply figures for the number of females who were diagnosed with Cervical Cancer, in the UK, which was attributed to the HPV strains 16 and 18 between 1 January 2025 and 31 December 2024 and who subsequently died from those strains.

The reply:
The Department of Health does not hold this information

I wanted to know because I am upset my child has been ill ever since having the HPV jab 2 1/2 years ago. I am more concerned now that there does not seem to be evidence in the UK to support this.

HPV vaccination: parents' rights

Why will my daughter be offered the HPV vaccination before she’s 16?

What if my daughter doesn’t want the HPV vaccination?