Too Fat to Adopt
An adoption agency in Britian is likening an obesity to smoking, drinking, drug addiction, alcoholism. Damien and Charlotte Hall, who have been pursuing the adoption of a baby, had their application rejected because his BMI was too high, and was considered to violate the agency’s “suitability criteria.” His BMI is also considered evidence that he would provide a dangerous and unhealthy lifestyle for a child coming into his home. A child raised by a fat man, you see, would inevitably end up fat.
Which of course implies that it would be the absolute end of the world, if a child became fat. Which implies that Mr. Hall is a glutton with terrible health habits who would careless pass his gluttony on to his dependents. Which implies, even, that fat could be contagious. Which implies that it is better for a child to remain in foster care than risk the remote possibility that the child become obese in a permanent and loving home with parents who love her.
There’s a happy ending, though! If Mr. Hall gets his BMI down to below 40, he’ll be good enough to adopt.
Posted by jenfu
Filed under: Advocacy, Health, International, Kids
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Cripes! What did my mom do wrong? My adoptive parents are in the normal and underweight BMI categories and I ended up in the obese! That proves it’s all nurture and no genetics, right?
Stupid Britain.
That’s terrible! My friend is having a tough enough time trying to adopt because she isn’t married, thank god she had the good sense not to get fat..
I’ve been doing some research on adoption and have found out that I would be considered ineligible by many agencies b/c a) I am overweight and b) I have used antidepressants at some point in my life.
Clearly the people of the adoption agencies have lost sight of what real abuse looks like. Perhaps a part of their interview should involve a question like, “Would you feel that placing a child with a loving but fat parent, would be better, than allowing a child to go from foster home to foster home. Gain a diagnoses of Reactive Attachment Disorder. Possibly be abused in said foster homes.”
These days I suppose they’d hire the person who said the child is better in possibly abusive foster settings, than being loved but fat. Absolutely sick. People who regard people based only on appearance, should not be involved with children.
Wow… this is absolutely ridiculous, I wonder what the BMI limits are, because honestly… bmi can be SO deceptive! Even professional athletes can be in the severly obese category because it only takes into consideration height to weight… what about muscle… this is horrible!
Actually, the reasons they gave for turning them down were more in regard to the man’s health risks to himself, not any risks to the child or of the child ending up fat. Their point is similar to allowing a person with cancer or kidney failure or some other serious medical issue to adopt: that they have a high likelihood of dying and not being around to raise the child. I think they don’t want to place a child where the parent will die and cause even more trauma to the child.
Judging on BMI or a medical condition alone doesn’t seem fair, though, even from the standpoint of trying to find a stable long term home. Perhaps a more reasonable approach would be for the adoption agency to have the man get some kind of medical evaluation or clearance from a doctor to be sure they are able to adequately care for a child.
That said, I am not *agreeing* with their point. I think it is better for a child to be adopted into a loving home (even with a sick/health impaired parent) than be in foster care.
Jackie – that’s exactly the point the prospective adoptive father was making in the newspaper articles I’ve seen. The focus does seem to have been on whether Mr Hall can expect to be healthy long-term, not the effect on the child of having a fat parent. Which opens up another can of worms, but I suppose it’s mildly better than the alternative interpretation.
Mr Hall has articulately said that he keeps active and wishes they would look at the full picture.
Exactly. It’s not like he’s um, bedridden or something and need 24/7 care.
WTF?!?!?!?!
Can he sue? This is utterly ridiculous. And disgusting!
I blogged about this too, because when I read it I wanted to scream/cry.
I think it’s utterly ridiculous that they would stop someone from adopting based on their BMI. I’ve since seen a picture of the guy, and he doesn’t look that big to me. But even if he was, they’re going to stop him based on “long term health risks”? What if someone had a very strong family history of, say, brain cancer, on both sides? Would they stop them from adopting because the person might eventually die from brain cancer? Somehow, I doubt it.
Besides, there are no guarantees in life – they could give the child to a skinny couple who gets hit by a bus the day after the adoption. Therefore, no-one should ever be allowed to adopt.
Also – there are no such “checks” on people having kids of their own. Double standards much?
*splutter*