Weight keeps 501-lb.man from adopting baby

OAK CLIFF, Texas, Aug. 25 (UPI) -- A 501-pound Missouri man says he hopes gastric bypass surgery will help him in his bid to adopt an infant he and his wife have been fostering.

A court ruling in June has prevented Gary Stocklaufer and his wife Cynthia from adopting baby Max.

The couple, who say they are certified foster parents and adopted another son, Robert, in 2000, claim they were told their request was denied because Stocklaufer is too overweight to care for the child, the Dallas Morning News reported Saturday.

"The state of Missouri has legally kidnapped our child," Cynthia Stocklaufer told the newspaper.

In an effort to legally add the baby to his family, her 34-year-old husband has accepted a Texas hospital's offer for free surgery, which was expected to take place Saturday.

"There's no guarantee I'll be able to get my son back with this surgery, but it's a chance I'm willing to take," he said.

A spokeswoman for the Missouri court handling the Stocklaufer case declined to speak specifically about this situation, but said adoption decisions are made based on the parents' "educational, financial, marital, medical and psychological status and criminal background check."