Obese Man Ruled Unfit for Fatherhood

Judge orders adoption for two boys who have special needs.

An Ottawa man whose obesity played a factor in whether he was fit enough to  be a father has lost custody of his children after a judge ruled Wednesday that  his two boys would be put up for adoption.

In the judge’s ruling, the father was described as a “loving” and  “intelligent” father who held deep hatred for the Children’s Aid Society of  Ottawa.

The ruling noted that the man had “angry outbursts” at CAS workers and  threatened to go on a hunger strike if he lost custody of his sons.

The ruling also noted that the father didn’t know his own strength, with  child-welfare workers re-porting that they felt pain from his handshake  alone.

The court ruling, reviewed by the Citizen, noted that the man, who at one  time weighed 525 pounds, may have trouble keeping up his daily weight-loss program while taking care of his four-and six-year-old boys, who both have  special needs.

I wonder if this would have happened if he were a woman; I also wonder if, given that the mother wasn’t granted custody, if the father not having custody of them is preferable to them being given up for adoption to foster parents, “one in a home run by a single mother with five other children.” (!)  I also really question whether his taking care of the boys would really impinge on his ability to work on further weight loss; I should think having to move around more should help him.

Ah well.  His hunger strike should help him. ;)

Hopefully one day, he’ll be able to get them back.

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