Fat Parent Loses Kids

[Guest guest]

DECEMBER 10, 16:35 ET

Father Ruled Too Fat for Kids

By CAROLYN THOMPSON

Associated Press Writer

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — A 500-pound foster father was forced to say good-

bye Monday to three boys he has raised for six years after a court

ruled that he is too fat to care for them properly.

, 38, said his inexplicable 200-pound weight gain over the

past two years left him unable to defend himself in court, but not

incapable of raising the 9-, 10- and 16-year-old brothers he hopes to

adopt.

``I told them today I'm not going to abandon you, I will never

abandon you,'' he said Monday after spending the weekend packing up

the boys' belongings.

Barely mobile, said he seldom leaves his house because taxis

and wheelchair transportation services cannot accommodate him.

Desperate to attend last week's Family Court hearing, he asked

furniture stores to drive him in a delivery truck. They refused.

``I'm beyond the shame part now,'' he said. ``I was willing to go in

a Sears truck.''

Judge Marjorie Mix ordered the children removed after a caseworker

reported that supervises the children mostly from his bedroom

and relies on the oldest to do chores like cooking and shopping.

The caseworker, Shirley Bozeman, said that recently lost his

foster-parent certification, that there have been cockroaches in the

home and that the children need more activities outside the home and

fewer responsibilities inside.

But she said the children are affectionate toward their foster father

and wished to remain in the home. The judge granted visitation

rights.

said he lost his foster-parent certification because his weight

prevented him from attending mandatory continuing education classes

and because he skipped the required health exams for fear his weight

gain would be discovered.

, who is single, hopes eventually to regain custody of the boys,

who have lived with him since being taken from their drug-addicted

mother.

He said he is willing to do anything, including undergo stomach-

reduction surgery, to get his weight under control. He has been

working with a personal trainer since September and wants the

children back in time for the start of the new school year in the

fall.

``My goal is to walk into the courtroom and start my adoption

petition,'' he said.

Solovay, author of the book ``Tipping the Scales of Justice:

Fighting Weight-based Discrimination,'' said she has been involved in

cases where children were taken from parents because of the child's

weight. Cases where the parents' weight is an issue are much rarer.

``My immediate concern is, here's someone who wants to have his day

in court and is not able to,'' she said. ``That's not a problem

necessarily with the foster system, but maybe with the transport, and

that's a big issue.''

said authorities have told him not to allow the boys to speak

with reporters. He said they are accepting of his weight: ``They tell

me every day, `It doesn't matter, Dad.'''