Matching Night is like taking a pregnancy test

We were originally going to talk about cars tonight but our plan for the blog this week got booted when we received an email this morning telling us it is MATCHING NIGHT!  My heart started beating a little harder and I thought holy cow, we could get a call in the morning that Bethany has matched us with a child! Of course… this is only our first matching night since being LID (see previous blog on the LID process). The only feeling I can put it to is (for women) when you think you might be pregnant. But don’t think so… But convince yourself to take a test anyway.  Remember those 3 minutes of waiting for the line, or circle, or smiley face to change and your heart is racing and you don’t know if you are going to cry or jump for joy... Those few minutes are what I have been feeling all day.  What I know is that we will most likely NOT be matched tonight, but something inside is also saying it could be possible…   

So now that my focus is completely changed for the evening, what I want to do this week is clarify exactly what MATCHING NIGHT is and where referrals come from.  If you haven’t been reading our blog let me also go back and enlighten you what the word referral means. 

What is a referral? This is an orphaned child, who has been matched with your family by Bethany (our agency). 

Where do referrals come from (specifically for the Waiting Child Program in China)? The Waiting child program is a program for children with special needs, healthy children are NOT in this program. Children come from all over China after being placed on a list by the CCCWA.

There are only 2 avenues that our referral can come from:

1.     MATCHING NIGHT- this occurs every 2-3 weeks.  The CCCWA releases new children’s profiles to an online database sometimes called the Shared List.  This list is only accessed by licensed adoption agencies as profiles are released. To put this into perspective, there are thousands of adoption agencies around the world preparing for matching night, making this night very stressful for agencies who are trying to find a profile match for their adoptive families. The whole process occurs at night in our time zone. Files are uploaded and within seconds agencies must “lock in” the files that best fit one of their many families’ requests.  Usually only a few files are locked in at a time and sometimes agencies are unable to make even a single match. Children’s files that are locked in the quickest are usually those with the most reversible disabilities and tend to be on the younger side, while older children and children with downs and cerebral palsy may be on the list for years without ever being locked in for a family.  The children on the list are from orphanages all over China.  Sometimes the ability to get more information on the child can be difficult because there is no direct relationship between the orphanage and the agency.   Some agencies only use this method of matching.

2.     ONE TO ONE Partnerships- This is a partnership between a specific orphanage and a specific agency.  In this partnership the orphanage sends the agency several profiles without any other agency having access to those children.   This type of partnership is more common with larger agencies and is helpful in bringing in a greater number of referrals at one time, more than the 1-2 children they typically get on the shared list.  The orphanages partner with only certain agencies and have a signed contract.  Every contract is different and some agree to send referrals monthly while others less often.  Some agreements also specify that the agency must find a family for every child before they will release any more files.  This can be challenging.  For example, imagine if an orphanage sends the agency 30 referrals at one time.  If 10 children will have minor correctable needs (cleft lip/palate, minor heart defect) and 20 may have more major needs (missing limbs, down syndrome, CP), the first 10 will most likely get placed very quickly.  The 20 with more major needs might take much longer to place.  Not until all 30 children are placed in families will the orphanage release more referrals.  The huge benefit of getting a referral from a one to one partnership is that you frequently will be able to get more pictures and more information than you would if they came from the shared list. 

So as we sit here and stare at what we will call our “blue line”.  We will pray for God’s divine plan, and specifically for the Child that we believe He has already picked out for us before the beginning of time.  John has informed me that we will NOT be staying up all night… oh this is going to be hard for me… and that in the morning we will check the Bethany online portal to see if we have been matched. 

Again, I don’t expect to see a blue line but crazier things have happened! 

Please pray for the Bethany social workers tonight, all of the children who the CCCWA releases to find loving families, and please pray that I don’t lose my mind waiting for the “blue line”.

Laura