Pooling or Profiling vs. Fixed Waiting lists - How are adopting families and birth mothers matched?

I often receive phone calls from adoptive families who have questions about how they can or will be matched with a birth mother if they are proceeding with an adoption.

First, as I have said before, you must be approved by a licensed child-placement agency in your state to do an adoption - this approval document is called a home study.

Once you have a home study how you are matched with a birth mother will depend on who you are working with to accomplish your adoption placement.  Agencies have different processes, and it is important that you understand your agency's process for matching your family with a birth mother.

Most agencies use a pooling or a profiling technique for matching adoptive families with birth parents - that means once you have been approved to adopt your agency will ask you to prepare a document or a profile about your family - basically a brochure that outlines all the reasons a birth mother should choose you.  Once you have done your profile it is shared with birthparents - it can be shared on an internet site or it can be sent to birthparents electronically or thru the mail.  Typically, agencies send multiple profiles to birth parents or show them a "pool" of profiles all at one time.  The birth mother than chooses the adoptive family she wishes to work with from the profiles she has received from the agency. 

If an agency has a fixed waiting list - the process is very different.  

After an adoptive family is approved to adopt their name is added to the agency's list of waiting families.  (In most cases, the agency's list is kept according to the date a family registers with the agency) When a birth mother or birthparents contact the agency, and indicate they wish to proceed with placing their child for adoption they are interviewed, and asked to provide their adoption case worker with qualifications for their "perfect" adoptive family.  Then when it comes time to match the birth mother with a family the agency goes to the first family on the fixed waiting list that meets the birth mother's requirements, and they attempt to make a match. When matching the birth mother and an adoptive family the agency  also keeps in mind the family's requirements for a birth mother.  The adoptive family may be the birth mother's perfect family, but she may not be their "perfect birth mother".

With the fixed waiting list typically the agency presents families to the birth mother - they can discuss the family with the birth mother, and if a birth mother has questions or concerns about a family she and  the agency case worker can discuss them.  Families are typically presented one at a time, but ultimately, the birth mother has the right to say yes or no to proceeding with the adoptive family present to her by the agency. 

If you have questions about this issue or any other adoption issues or questions just Holler "Hey Adoption Lady"