Bloke Too Fat to Adopt Brat!

By John W. Lillpop

Most authorities are very careful about placing children in adoptive homes. People looking to adopt are screened for character, credit, employment history, crime history, and financial stability. All of which makes sense in order to protect the interests of innocent children.

However, a man in not-so-jolly England has been rejected because there is just too damn much of the bloke. In other words, he is too fat.

As reported at Yahoo.com, in part:

"Damien Hall, who stands six feet, one inch tall, weighs 24 and a half stone. He therefore has a body mass index (BMI) of more than 42 and is thus considered morbidly obese.

"The call centre worker, 37, and his nanny wife Charlotte, 31, cannot have children of their own and approached Leeds City Council, about adopting.

"But their local authority told them that Damien must get his BMI down below 40 before they can be considered as potential parents due to concerns over his weight.

"The bottom line is I'm too fat," he told BBC radio. "It's hard to lose weight under pressure. I'm not a couch potato and I don't sit eating take aways every night.

"I just feel as though we were only judged on my weight and not all the other good things about us.

"We don't drink or smoke and we could give a child a happy and safe home."

"The letter the couple received from Leeds City Council said they were unable to process their adoption application "due to the concerns that the medical advisers have expressed regarding Mr. Hall's weight.

"Charlotte Hall said the letter was "gutting" and "to be turned down flatly just on that, it's just harsh.

"We're here ready to take a child on.

"They seem to be saying it's better for them to be in care and being shoved from pillar to post just in case Damien dies.

"In a statement, Leeds City Council explained: "The council's adoption service has a legal responsibility to ensure that children are placed with adopters who are able to provide the best possible lifelong care.

"Part of this responsibility is advice for applicants on a range of suitability criteria, including any health and lifestyle issues which may impact on an applicant's long term ability to adopt."

Good for the Leeds City Council! Stick to your standards you lymie creeps.

Just one question, though: What does the British bureaucracy do when a man of Hall's size fathers a child the old fashioned way? Do the fat police come out and rescue the brat from the slob?

A bit of advise for Hall: Take off the blubber and you might not shoot blanks, dude!

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http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/afp/090112/world/britain_adoption_health_1