So, too fat to adopt? I guess it's better for a child to remain under the care of the state than to be in a two parent home.

How completely ridiculous is this?

A man has been told he cannot adopt a child because he is overweight.

Damien Hall was told by Leeds city council that his weight – 24-and-a-half stone – made his morbidly obese.

The council told him his body mass index, BMI, was more than 42 and informed the 37-year-old it would have to drop to below 40 before he could be considered a potential parent due to risks he could become ill or die.

Mr Hall and his wife Charlotte, 31, have been married for 11 years but are unable to have children of their own.

Mr Hall told the BBC he found it hard to lose the weight while under pressure.

"I'm not a couch potato and I don't sit eating takeaways 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," he told Radio 5 Live.

Leeds city council released a statement explaining it had 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," the council claimed.

"Mr and Mrs Hall's application to adopt is still active and they have been given advice on how best to proceed regarding this issue."

The Department for Children, Schools and Families added it did not officially issue any guidance on the maximum weight for people who wanted to adopt.
© Adfero Ltd

Criteria for adoption is wrong?????

It dosn't surprise me.

So what does a "stone" weigh?...in pounds

about 14 lbs

My sister and her husband went through that while trying to adopt. My brother in law has high blood pressure and my sister is very overweight. They were asked to get a note from their doctor stating that they were in good health. They didn't want to place a child and then have something happen where it left the child in a position to have to be moved again to another family. The adoption only proceeded once they were declared healthy and strong enough to raise a child. My sister did have to lose a few pounds for the adoption to take place. They got my neice when she was 10 months old, she'll be 6 in 2 weeks and everything has gone well.

That lucky baby has a family now. Did the few pounds really matter?

1 stone = 6.35029 kg.

I seriously doubt it. I bet she's gained back that weight and more since my neice is here.

Umm...we need a conversion ratio of American weight to Metric lol. WTF is a kg?

I don’t feel that the weight itself should be a problem. That smacks of blatant discrimination. However, if the potential adoptive parent is in poor health due to his or her obesity, therefore their ability to effectively care for the child is compromised, then yes; these problems need to be addressed. They should be addressed anyway.

1 kg=2.2046 lbs

1kg = 2,20462 lb or 2 lb and 3.27 0z

Thats too many numbers to keep up with. I'll stick to pounds lol

funny how he can't adopt and love a child because of his weight and possible health risks. But any crackwhore can have a baby and throw it in the dumpster and still get rights back.

You are right, i think both issues should be looked at. With the majority of attention payed to crimminal backgrounds of course...

I do think there should be limits. I can see if someone is extremely overwieght they obviously cannot take care of themselves so why should he or she potentially pass on bad habits to a future generation. Poor diet and lack of exercise according to my sociology text book is the number two killer of Americans. The first of course being tobacco use... Uh oh... This sounds like a contradiction doesn't it? Maybe some attention should be given to that as well? If we try to encourage adoption wouldn't using a strict criteria discourage it? Maybe not... Now i'm confused...

It seems life is not as black and white as we would like to believe...

The only way I could see not letting someone adopt a child because of their weight is if they were bed bound. You know, someone of the extremely obese people that haven't left their bed in 5 years.
I'm "obese" and I'm a damn good mom.
If they are going to judge adoptive parents so harshly then they need to do the same with natural parents.
The mothers that drink alcohol thru their whole pregnancy. Throw their babies away. Smoke crack. Leave them alone.
All they have to do is take a few classes and go before a judge with a lawyer free of charge paid for by tax payers, and they get their kids back.

Morbid obesity would definitely be a problem for a parent. I’ve actually seen that documented on TV and its heart breaking for the children of obese parents.

If the weight is not causing physical problems that are incapacitating, then I see no problem. If an overweight person has say, controlled diabetes, then that’s fine. It would only become a potential hindrance to adoption if the parent COULD NOT physically function well enough to care for a child.

That would apply to ANY medial condition whether it’s related to obesity or not.

I'm considered obese but can keep up with my eight year old.It's funny that any old idiot can have a kid,many unwanted or unloved but people who actually want them have to jump thru hoops.

you don't look puffy to me ?... ...I'm not sure what the official " obese "...guidelines exactly are...