Miscellaneous

It's Not Like He's Gonna Eat the Kid

In Arkansas, you can't adopt a child if you're gay. In England, apparently you can't adopt a child if you're fat.

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.

24 and a half stones -- that's about 350 pounds, or the average size of a typical Arkansan (which you'd probably understand if you'd ever eated at AQ Chicken House -- deee-licious).

It's a stupid rule in England, but at least there's some logic behind it: If you weigh 350 lbs, you're less likely to survive long enough to care for the child.

Full post as published by Quiz Law on January 12, 2009 (boomark / email).