international.adoption.com/foreign/referrals.html Referrals - Spec...

Referrals - Special Needs, Agencies, Agency, Available, Care, Child, Children, Developmental, Early,Referrals Referrals Accepting a Referral Turning Down a Referral Photolistings How Do Referrals Happen As children become available for adoption in a foreign country, they are matched with prospective parents who can best meet the needs of a particular child. The more flexible you are in terms of the child’s nationality, age, and medical status, the faster you can be matched with a child. (Note: Some countries, more notably Ukraine and Kazakhstan, do not allow pre-identification of children. Adopting parents meet the referred child only during their visit to the country. For more information on individual country programs, see our Country Programs information.) Getting “The Call” When you have been matched with a child, your adoption agency will call your social worker, and your social worker will call you. Usually you don’t get much information over the phone, just the basics like the age and sex of the child and any special needs the child may have. Your social worker will want to meet with you as quickly as possible to go over the child’s file. The referral file usually contains photographs of the child, a medical report, and the child’s social history. Depending on the country, you may have more (or less) information about the child. Some countries include videotapes of the child and the medical history of the child’s birthparents, while others offer very little about the medical or developmental history of the child. Based on the research you conducted prior to choosing a country, you should know the type of information to expect in the referral file. Some agencies (and social workers) make a point of withholding the photos until you accept the referral – they don’t want you to make a quick emotional decision based on how cute the child looks. Other agencies and social workers let you see all the photos beforehand. Although it is ext...