Too Fat to be a Foster Father

A gent has been told he cannot adopt because, frankly, he’s just too fat. The council said:

"I am writing to confirm that we are unable to progress an application from you at this time. This is due to the concerns that the medical advisers have expressed regarding Mr Hall's weight. I have discussed this with our medical adviser... who considers that it is important to alter lifestyle, diet and exercise in a sustainable way so that any weight reduction can be maintained in the long term.”

It may seem a tad arbitrary that the same state that left Baby P with his mother and let Fred and Rose West be foster parents to several children would also dismiss a man from being a foster parent for being fat. That said, both Central and Local government are not well known for the thoughtful implementation of policy, and their decisions do tend to be arbitrary choices made around draconian yet flawed procedures.

Plus, this guy isn’t just fat. He is huge. I believe the official term is morbidly obese. Now, I’m not doctor, as regular readers of this blog will know. However, terms such as morbid and obese are never good. And this fella isn’t just carrying round a couple of extra pounds – he literally ate all the pies. And pasties. And pizzas.

Now, I’m not going to turn this post into a stream of fat jokes. So I’m not going to say this guy should be known as Fatty Mc Fat Fat Fat Fat, or call him Chunks O’Lard. Likewise, I’m not going to ask “whatever happened to his chin?” Nor am I going to say that, given how fat he is, he could intimidate whales and probably eat the Isle of Wight in one sitting. No, such comments just aren’t helpful.

What I would say is that, from a Libertarian perspective, it is tempting to rally behind this Fatmeister General – sorry, sorry, man – because it could be a case of a one man being browbeaten by the insensitive, bureaucratic state. Then again, we also need to take into account another central tenet of Libertarianism – the potent doctrine of personal responsibility. So I’d say this guy that if he really, really wants to adopt a child and give that child a loving home, he should take some responsibility for himself and shed some of his weight. Because it won’t just be to for his benefit, but also for the child he wants to adopt. And for his wife, who could be left a widow because of his size. We could shout about the state over this issue; equally, we could tell this guy to get off his huge arse and do something about the situation he finds himself in.