[TWIB]

My husband and I are wanting to adopt internationally. My husband is a large man (about 6'3' 350lbs.) and I am not a small thing myself(5'9" 235lbs.)

My question is: Why do some countries have a limit to what the parents can weigh. My husband has Hypothroidism, which causes weight gaiun no matter how much he diets. I think this should be considered discrimination. I am really trying not to be hateful, but I didn't know you had to be skinny to be a good parent.

Any thoughts?????

[sak9645]

The only country where weight restrictions are in place is Korea, and even then, waivers occasionally can be gotten if a person is in great health.

China is considering restrictions, but has not actually put them in place. It has asked agencies simply to consider whether a person's weight makes him/her more likely to die young or have difficulty parenting.

To the best of my knowledge, no other country has weight restrictions. HOWEVER, some American agencies may have concerns about a person who is extremely obese, because extreme obesity can affect the lifespan and cause or exacerbate certain medical problems. That being said, plenty of people who are very large HAVE adopted internationally.

Sharon

[TWIB]

Thank you for the info

[Mindy82]

I wondered about this myself, as i'm only 5'2", however I weight about 230 lbs (dieting)

I also wondered, but then came to the realization that many of those countries know that Americans are overweight, and obesity is a big problem. Perhaps they feel you will overfeed your child, and that to them is considered child abuse.

[beachdreams]

The reason is not because they are afraid your child will be obese but because they are concerned about your health and your longevity of life.

[stella1]

Hi,
When we were researching countries I was lead to Korea, but then my husband did not meet the weight requirements. (If he had lost like 20 pounds he would.) Then I realized because I was on marriage #3, but I'm my husband's first (and only) wife we could not adopt. They do not allow more than 1 divorce. I found a couple of other countries with this restriction. Now in my case I had no previous children by choice, they were short marriages, just made a couple of mistakes along the way to finding the perfect husband. But of course they don't care, they just put you in the unstable marriage category I guess. So just like with weight they just lump you into an unhealthy, more likely to die young category. I don't think it's right and I think each situation should be looked at, but I also do understand the reasoning in some ways. (Though I'm glad it's not all countries.)

We ended up adoption from Kaz and now realize that is where our daughter was anyway, so in the end it all worked out of the best.

Acutally our agency's people in Kaz had weight restrictions, but my husband was okay for them, not sure what it was, but it must have been a little more flexable than Korea. But it was just the people they work with in Kaz that had this rule, that Kaz in general.

Good luck to you, you will find where your child is!!!!