Man Who Alleged He was Denied Adoption Because of Obesity Prevails

A Jackson County Missouri judge has given custody of adoptive Baby Max to a man who claimed that his obesity was the reason he had been denied custody previously in the adoption case.  Gary Stocklaufer and his wife, Cindy, had sought adoption of the child of Mr. Stocklaufer's cousin after bringing the baby to Missouri.  However, the court had removed Baby Max from the Stocklaufers and placed him with another couple for six months, who also have been trying to adopt him.   

Stocklaufer had claimed that the judge had denied his opportunity to adopt the child because he was obese, weighing 550 pounds.  Mr. Stocklaufer has recently lost over 200 pounds after undergoing gastric bypass surgery.  However, in ruling that custody of Baby Max be returned to Mr. and Mrs. Stocklaufer, the judge said the prior removal of the child had nothing to do with Mr. Stocklaufer's weight but was because the couple did not follow proper procedures when moving the child into Missouri from another state.

Read the Kansas City Star article or watch KCMB new footage on the case.  (Last visited January 8, 2008 bgf)