[amy100502]

We have just started looking into adoption in Korea. Can someone please help me out with the height to weight chart? I am so confused. I am 6'2 and 145lbs. so I think I am ok. My husband is 6'5 and I would say 290. He is extremely health and has played ball for years. Our doctor has never said anything about him being over weight or anything like that. I really believe the reason he weights what he does is because muscle is heavier than fat right??? Anyway can anyone tell me if we will be turned down because of this?

[snyder52601]

It really depends on the agency you are going through. We are going through HoltIntl.org and they don't have those requirements.

[amy100502]

Thanks. I was looking at Dillion Internation and thought that it was a country requirement. I looked at Holt, but we live in MO and I don't know if they place children in MO. Thanks again for the post.

[spaypets]

Your husband, at 6'5" shouldn't weigh more than 210 pounds to have a BMI of 25 -- more than that and he's medically overweight. His doctor might not have mentioned it because physicians often don't talk about weight. It wasn't until I tipped the scales at nearly 150 (I'm only 5'2" --I shouldn't weigh more than 138) that a doctor EVER mentioned my weight, even though it had been going up for YEARS.

The weight requirements depend on the Korean social service organization that the US agency works with.

BTW, at 6'2" 145 you're actually _under weight_.

Your husband would have to be a body builder for the extra weight to be muscle. He can have a fat percentage test -- if he indeed has extremely low body fat then that might be all right for the agency.

If he's as active as you say, it probably won't take him very long to lose the extra pounds -- men have it so much easier. I joined Weight Watchers and weigh 113 now.

[snyder52601]

With Holt in Missouri, you can adopt children. This is how it works. If you don't have Korean decent then you can only adopt "waiting children". If you do have a Korean decent then you can adopt a healthy child. With my husband and I, Jerry is half Korean so if we wanted we could adopt healthy. But we saw a little boy who was on the special needs list and are adopting him. According to them because he was born at 31 weeks and his lungs were underdevloped he was considered special needs. Our doctor looked at his info, and said he was just as healthy as any other child.

[lynnor]

you *could* also talk to the agency about your situation. Because it is muscle weight, maybe a "note from the doctor" and a photo of your hubby they may let the situation slide.

Otherwise, look at waiting children. For comparison, my bro-in-law (who doesn't lift at all) is 6' 4" or 6' 6" and weighs 175. Yes, he's a string bean

[Remington]

My husband is 6'1" and weighs about 230. Our social worker took one look at him and determined that he was just a "muscular" guy. She said that there would be no issue about his weight. Koreans don't normally have men this size and they rely on the expertise of the American social workers. I dont' know if this is different because we live in MN or not, but we didn't have any problems or questions on our paperwork.

[DecemberLove]

Just to let you know, we are working with S-C out of NYC who deals with the SWS in Korea. We were both told that we could not have a BMI greater than 29. Also I was told that it could be waived f a physician says that you are in good health.

HTH
DecemberLove