what I read in the paper today

One of the first headlines and leads that caught my attention this morning was...

New adoption rules bar obese parents

BEIJING - China is tightening rules on foreign adoptions, barring parents who are unmarried, over 50 or obese [emphasis added], but says it will try to increase the number of children available to those who qualify, according to U.S. adoption agencies.

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Those of you who know me, or have read enough of my rants about weight will probably not be shocked that I was dumbstruck by this. My initial reaction was, "How flippin' stupid of an idea is this?"

China, to me, is confusing sometimes. My grandfather fought in the China-Burma-India theater of WWII and has a profound respect for Chinese culture. My wife, who lived in China for a very brief time, also has a lot of respect for the Chinese. I have several Chinese friends who are hard-working, industrious, and good-natured. So, all of this has also shed a more-than-favorable light upon me regarding China.

But this one takes the cake (no pun intended).

I can see age and marital restrictions, but inserting "obese" into the equation just reaffirms my stance that overweight people are the last demographic to truly be discriminated. I have been working for the better part of a year trying to get in shape. I've lost 40 lbs. since this time last year, and Holli and I have made consistent efforts at altering our diet to be more healthy. I'm quite proud of my baby steps to say the least. I say this, because I don't want you to think that I'm crying foul on the Chinese as someone who doesn't seek to improve his health and appearance. I'm not just sitting here with a bag of Cheetos while intermittently eating spoonfuls of cream cheese getting my keyboard sticky while I lambaste this idea.

So, with that said, here's my real problem...

The article states, "Many Chinese children adopted abroad are girls who are given up by couples who, bound by rules that limit most urban families to one child, want to try for a son. Others are left at orphanages or by the roadside by unmarried mothers or poor families."

1) Quit overpopulating. If you need to "get rid" of these kids, these restrictions might not help your efforts any. Beggars can't be choosers.

2) People leave their children by the roadside? How humane is that? Parents can do that, but before we place you with an American family - where you'll more than likely have a much better life - we need to make sure your new parents are over 30, are not depressed, and quite frankly, aren't FAT.

3) Stop having the kids in the first place if you can't care for them! Do you have any idea how backwards this seems? Dang, another girl. Well, take her to the orphanage and we'll keep trying for the boy. Holli and I have discussed how - in the event we can't have children of our own - we will adopt. Well, dear, scratch China off the list.

I may not be articulating my feelings very well - so forgive me for that. But I hope you see where I'm coming from. You would think that a potential mother who has a degree in humanities, a masters in library science, cultural experience abroad on two continents, comes from a tight-knit family of seven, who exercises regularly and just flat out loves children would be more than qualified. And she is.

Evidently it is the potential father who has a degree in journalism, a master's degree, will obtain a doctorate, who also has cultural experience abroad, who is doing everything in his power to improve his health who would not be qualified.

Because he's fat.

If we have to adopt, I guess we'll just look somewhere else.