- Prospective parents who are too fat have been banned from adopting children
- The Adopt Change ‘Barriers to Adoption’ report found this in its latest research
- As a result its harder for vulnerable children to find suitable foster parents
Prospective parents are being turned away from adopting kids because they’re are ‘too fat’, a new report has revealed.
The Adopt Change ‘Barriers to Adoption’ research has uncovered a parent’s body mass index (BMI) as one of the many hurdles faced by individuals who are keen to adopt a child in Australia.
An overweight prospective parent is most certain to have their application tossed aside by the authorities despite being in good health, the Herald Sun reports.
Prospective parents who are too fat have been banned from adopting children (stock image)
As a result, children in need of a stable home have no choice but to be move from one foster home to another.
The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare states that more than 30,000 children who have been separated from their biological parents for the last two years are in desperate need of a permanent home.
The number of children adopted last year was the lowest on record standing at 196 children which was five percent lower than what was recorded in 2015, the newspaper reports.
The research revealed a total of 83 percent of the 1053 people surveyed said they experience various hurdles when deciding on adopting a child.
Its harder for vulnerable children to find suitable homes and foster parents (stock image)
Other complaints include a five year wait to have their application approved and minimal support from the relevant authorities.
Adopt Change CEO Renée Carter labeled the BMI requirement as a ‘barrier’ and ‘bizarre’.
‘The current system is broken and we need urgent change in order to provide these children with a more permanent and supportive environment, rather than barriers to belonging,’ she told the newspaper.