Overweight parents

[lovbeingamommy]

I've been looking over other posts and it seems like the parents weight can be of concern for adoption. My question then is where is the dividing line for weight - is it overweight or obese? There's a big difference and most standard weight/BMI charts will draw the line at a BMI of 30 for the obese designation.

[GoBecGo]

I'm not sure if there's an overall rule. In the UK there was something in the news recently of a man being told he and his partner could adopt once his BMI was below 40, but it's probably done on a council by council basis here. I think if the BMI is below 40 but the person still has weight-related morbidity they also don't place for adoption.

[EFmom]

I think it's the most concern in international adoption. In that case, it varies. Some countries don't mention it, and others are pretty strict.

[lovbeingamommy]

thanks! It's good to know that it does vary by country and some it doesn't matter as much. Also, good because the weight issue in itself can be a motivator for me to lose

Kate

[BeckC]

I've never heard of it mattering in domestic US adoption. I know that some countries have rules about BMI, but I'm not familiar with which ones (although I think I remember reading that China has a BMI rule).

As for domestic, my BMI is over 40. We're adopting out of state and I contacted agencies in many states and I've not had a single person mention weight or BMI to me.

[RedOakMomma]

Again, BMI requirements can vary a bit, even within a country's international program. Korea, for example (all my examples come from here, but bear with me ), is known as a country that is strict about BMI, but that's something that's determined by each of the major Korean orphanages. There are four, I believe, and at least one of them has no BMI requirement at all. In fact, several of the parents I know who adopted from KSS are very obese.

While googling, I found this:

http://forums.adoption.com/general-a...-required.html

But yes, domestic adoption will give you the most options if BMI is a concern.

ETA: I believe the cut-off for the Korean agencies that do have BMI guidelines is 30.

[marsupial-mom]

For the kind of adoption I'm doing, we just need to pass a general health physical to demonstrate that we can care for a child. I imagine weight can be an issue, but if your weight is not already of concern to your doctor, you probably don't need to worry about it.