Ex-Nanny Told She Is Too Heavy To Adopt

A former nanny says she has been refused permission to adopt a child because she is overweight. Gillian Vose, 42, said social services rejected her application because her weight – she weighs 20 stone (127kg) and is 5ft 3ins (1.6m) tall – meant she would not be able to cope with the child concerned.

She was initially approved for adoption, but after an official visited her and saw her having problems getting out of a chair, the council changed its mind.

Miss Vose then got a letter from Blackburn and Darwen Borough Council.

It said: “Workers felt that your weight compromised your ability to be able to meet a child’s needs.”

Last night, Ian Kendrick, the council’s deputy director of children’s services, said: “In this case, the issue is about how mobile she is, how much she would be required to lift the child. If she was fit and active, whatever weight she was would be irrelevant.”

Miss Vose from Blackburn, Lancs, said: “I am very upset and angry – I was a nanny for 16 years and looked after children from when they are babies to being teenagers.”