[mrsmommyx6]

There are a few things that I was concerned would kill the dream of adopting and I wanted to see what your expereinces are.
1) Bad credit- will this keep us from getting approved?
2) Dh was recently diagnosed with diabetes, can he still get approved?
3) How many kids can we have and still adopt? We currently have 6, but will probably wait to adopt when 2 of them leave home in a few years.
4) I am very overweight, I was told I would not be approved, is this true?

TIA!

[saranbr]

From the top--
--Bad credit will only be a problem if you need to borrow money to adopt. Basically they look at your income, not your credit score.
--Diabetes- Probably not unless he's disabled from it. Most, at least adult onset types, are still capable of a "full life span" or other such thing the agencies are generally looking for. But, a good question for the agency.
-- Other children-- depends on the country you are interested in. I know there are several or at least a couple people on this forum who are in the process of adopting from Guatemala and already have 4+ children. Some countries have a limit of three to four, but have the "case by case" exception policy, which might work if you have children leaving the nest soon.
--Overweight-- this will probably come down to the doctor's letter. Usually Guatemala at least wants something saying that you have a normal life expectancy and are capable of raising a child. Unless you have major secondary health issues, I doubt this would be an issue.
Best wishes on your journey!!!

[annaguat]

This will all vary from country to country. Guatemala is overal very flexible. Make sure that if an agency turns you down on anything it is not because of their own imposed rules. So if some one turns you down you might try a different agency or a different country. Best wishes. Anna

[tybeemuffin]

Make sure you check out your Home study agency carefully. Mine almost didn't approve me to adopt because when I had my medical checkup I had an irregular Pap smear (the first one in my life). My regular doctor did the exam instead of my OB GYN. I had to have further tests which all came back negative. The SW still wouldn't accept it. Basically I had to have the OB GYN write a letter saying that it was normal and there wasn't a problem. My Social Worker was really tough on this. I couldn't believe that this almost stopped my adoption. I have since heard that she has given other people hard times approving them to be adoptive parents. She is now no longer a SW. Most are good, I would just try to check them out ahead of time so that you don't run into the problem with the diabetes.

As far as the credit. They never ran a credit check as part of my home study. I would guess that is typical, so as long as your income is OK (basically you just have to be above the poverty level - which is really low), you should be fine.

[adoptnky]

I am overweight and have cronic high blood pressure. My blood pressure is under control with medication. My doctor's report said that I would live a normal life expectancy. I even had my doctor write a seperate letter stating that my blood pressure was under control and that I keep all of my doctor's appointments and take my medication. We never needed it since the doctor never mentioned it in my medical report.

Kim

[kare4you]

My husband is diabetic and on an insulin pump. His BS is under control and that was good enough for our SW. We had to do a paper that said what our income was, where we were getting money for the adoption and what payments we had to make a month. As far as obesity, I think it would depend on what your doctor said. I did have a friend that said that there was a maximum BMI for Korean adoption, but I have not heard of one for Guatemala.
Karen

[redru2004]

I've been a diabetic since I was 8 (I'm now 32) and I've had a few complications from the disease (lost the vision in my right eye due to a retinal detachment and the my kidneys are starting to show some damage from the disease) however I'm under control now, I'm active and overall very healthy. All it took for us was a letter from my doctor stating that my condition wouldn't prevent me from living a normal life nor would it prevent me from taking on a normal parental role. I wish you luck in the process!

[CashCrew]

We didn't have a credit check either. Our income had to be at least 25% above poverty level for the size of our family. For a family size of 8, the minimum is $40,487/yearly (except for Hawaii and Alaska). Of course that will be lower if 2 of your children have moved out. Our homestudy agency and placement agency made us do an income to debt ratio as well to make sure we could afford a child with our lifestyle. We just needed an employment letter from dh's employer stating how long he has been employed, how much he makes, and what he does. I've heard of some agencies asking for bank letters though.

As far as the health issues, our agency and social worker were VERY laid back about this. Both our SW and agency just wanted the doctor to write something saying we were expected to life a normal life's expectancy, that we were physically and psychologically capable of parenting a child, and that we were free of communicable diseases.

Guatemala has no weight requirement, however I've heard of a couple other countries having one. I think it's no more than 20% overweight. I remember looking at it when we were picking our country and noticing that dh was considered overweight by that method. He really isn't considered overweight by American standards at all. I cannot remember what weight it said he had to be, but I'm thinking it was like 175 or 180 which would make him super skinny for his height!

[jennynabee]

Hi --Diabetic for 19 years--on an insulin pump--Dr just wrote note saying would not prevent me from parenting and long life! Good Luck!

[momof8]

We had 8 children already at home when we brought home Janna, so definitely...not a problem, although I do believe it would be for China.