Thursday, December 21, 2006

News from China

Yesterday, the newswire told us that China is tightening up its standards for adopting. Apparantly, a person cannot be fat, ugly, poor or emotional if they want to adopt. (I'll probally get myself for that last sentence.... I couldn't resist saying it).

Here's the details:
1. You can't adopt from China if your Body Mass Index is over 40. At first I was shocked at this. But then I found a website that calculates BMI and found out that a man my height would have to weigh in at 305 to exceed a BMI of 40. Without sounding like a jerk, I have to admit that 305 is a bit large for a 6'1" dude. I've got to think that the health concerns are high for someone of this stature. Now that I think about it, I'm surprised that they didn't add smoking as another disqualification. (If indeed health is a concern)

2. You can't adopt if you have "severe facial abnormalities". I hope this doesn't include the occasional zit that I get. The irony is that I get zits from all my working out over the lunch hour. (To avoid weighing 305 pounds!)

3. You must have a net worth of over $80,000. Actually being a financial advisor, I somewhat agree with this. Well.... I don't know.... maybe not. I think I'll remain neutral on this one. Although saving is important, there are plenty of good, poor parents. Conversely, there are plenty of poor, rich parents. (Do you like my play on words here?)

4. You can't be on any medication for mental stuff. Once again, I'm not really qualified to comment here, so I'll remain neutral.

I think the point of it all is this: China is improving as a nation on several fronts. Their economy is improving, and their view towards having baby girls is improving. (No facts here, just my opinion) It is to my understanding that they simply don't have as many children to adopt as they used to. Therefore, they are only becoming more strict because they can.

It's possible that we can view this as a positive thing. There are still plenty of other nations that people can adopt from.

No comments: