A sad tale in the Herald Sun over the weekend about a couple prevented from adopting a child together due to the wannabe mother being considered "too fat" to receive a child.

From the article -

Mrs Lannigan, 29, and husband, Dave, 37, are devastated after complying with three years of bureaucracy to become eligible. Mrs Lannigan, who is 170cm tall and weighs 126kg, lost 12kg in recent weeks. She was told to lose another 40kg.

"They (two Department of Human Services adoption counsellors) came to see us for a second visit," Mrs Lannigan said. "And one of the women said everything was looking good and we would be wonderful parents, but that my weight was holding me back from adopting.

"They gave me a BMI (body mass index) chart. They said, 'You are here' and drew a dot on the chart and then said, 'When you get to here (85kg) give us a ring' and they would come and start the assessment again.

"By the time I get down to that weight I will be too old - they're asking me to lose more than 50kg."

We are thoroughly supportive of the couple but feel the need to point out that her argument - she will be "too old" by the time she loses forty kilograms - is patently untrue. If we have learned anything from quality programming like The Biggest Loser, it is that one can lose more than half their bodyweight in a matter of weeks, as long as they have a feisty American personal trainer like Jillian barking things like "Why do you hate yourself so much?" and "Don't you dare cry, don't you DARE cry - unless you're crying tears of JOY because you're gonna lose SO MUCH WEIGHT!" at them on a daily basis as they wile away their days in a McMansion whilst fighting with other obese Australians.

If a network television executive read this story and didn't think "Another opportunity to film a Biggest Loser special!" then they are idiots, and Defamer Australia should be running the country their station.

 

Tags: au | the biggest loser