Referral Time and Process

Our WHFC caseworker Sarah emailed me today that our paperwork has gone to Ethiopia. This is what she said about the information we will receive in our referral:

Referral wait times are currently running about 1-3 months. I will call you with the good news, so please make sure I have all your contact information--i.e. cell phone, work, home, etc.
A typical Ethiopia referral will contain: a couple photos, general description of child, a brief social report including a list of any known birth family, and a general updated medical report. Once a referral is made, I will call you with the information and then send the paper referral to you via Fed Ex and you will receive it the next day.

I haven't heard of anyone who has waited as long as 3 months for a referral. Most are within 4-6 weeks, some less. I also asked her how the referrals are made-by Wide Horizons, the Ethiopian Government, etc. This was her response:

The matching process is done by Ethiopia--mainly Dr. Tsegaye. He knows the children available for adoption in the orphanages and we provide him with the list of families. It is mostly chronological, never matched due to characteristics of families and children. The process is glorious because children finally have permanent homes.

Interesting that they don't do any matching based on the characteristics of families and children. I guess it would feel too much like playing God.