Soft Referrals vs Firm Referrals: Sorting It All Out

Recently Jennifer G left a comment about soft referrals. She said:

“According to my agency, some agencies make “soft referrals of babies/children. That is, they offer referrals before the babies’ dossiers have been officially approved. They say this approval process normally takes four months from the time a baby is found orphaned or abandoned (this period includes the two months you mention). Apparently the DIA can’t regulate at which point an agency makes a referral, however, so an agency could make a referral before the baby is paper ready. This means that there’s a possibility that something will arise during the baby’s dossier process that prevents the baby from being legally adoptable after all. For instance, they may actually find a relative or the proper paperwork may not be able to be found for some reason ”” even after the baby has been referred to someone. Given this, the agency also recommends asking such questions as:

• Has the baby’s dossier actually been completed and approved?
• If the agency makes referrals before the baby’s (or child’s) dossier is completed, how many of those babies actually end up with the family to which they were referred?
• How long after they were referred were the children actually cleared for adoption by the DIA?
• How long after referral did the families travel to bring home their children? What happens if the family has accepted the referral and then “loses the referral because next-of-kin comes forward or the proper paperwork cannot be obtained, and therefore the child is not legally free for adoption?

According to the agency, if a baby/child is *completely* legally free for adoption, then travel and & G&R should be happening one to two months after referral. This doesn’t always appear to be happening. I’m not saying that means something hincky is going on. I just think that my agency has raised some good questions that people should be considering and asking about.”

These are great points and good information to carry into an agency choice.

From what I have read and heard, the term “soft referrals” is used in various ways so lets break it down. I have read about three methods of referrals currently used in Vietnam adoptions:

1. Soft Referral: An agency learns of a baby available for adoption in an orphanage they work in. The baby may have literally just been dropped off and the orphanage director may “promise” this baby to an agency. The agency passes this info along to the PAP as a referral. In this case many things can and do go wrong. First of all, the baby does not have a medical file yet in almost all cases. Many times there is not even a photo to go with the referral. So if the adoption it to proceed in an ethical manner, the family will need to wait the 60 days required by the DIA just to start the baby’s dossier. The baby will also need a medical exam which in my opinion is where many babies fall through the cracks either temporarily or permanently. Anything, really, can happen during those initial few months from a biological family member stepping forward to disabilities or illness being discovered to death. Likewise, on the orphanage end, until that baby is “paper ready”, orphanages have been known to play “baby bidding” by offering the baby around to the agency willing to make the largest “humanitarian aid” donation and an agency that once holds a referral this soft could easily lose it before it is truly ready to start processing.
2. The more common type of “soft referral”, although I hesitate to call it that as it bears little resemblance in terms of risk to the aforementioned soft referral, is a baby who has been medically clearanced, waited the full 60 days, is paper-ready and is then referred out with full medical, photos, etc to a family who is also fully paper-ready. This baby is deemed completely legally free for adoption by the orphanage but has not yet been approved or matched by the DIA with the parent so there is, of course, a slight possibility that the match will be denied although I have never heard of this happening. It is more common for the DIA to investigate the orphan status of the child, however it is extremely unlikley that this would result in a lost referral through a reputable agency as they would have already done all the necessary background work to assure that the orphan is, in fact, a legitimate orphan. This is, by far, the most common type of referral given. The time between referral and travel would be at least 3-4 months because the babies dossier and the PAP dossier would need to be matched, approved at the various levels and then scheduled for G&R and these things take a long time, some provinces longer than others. An investigation, although rare especially in infant adoptions, would add on additional time.
3. The kind of referral that Jennifer mentions is a firm referral. In this case, the baby is already completely paper-ready and approved by the DIA to be matched with a family who is also already logged in with the DIA. The agency-matched referral would go through the same process as number 2, above, except the parents would not hear about it until it is a done deal, very shortly before the G&R is scheduled. This is a solid referral, there is not going to be much that could possibly fall through.  

There are advantages and disadvantages to all the referral models. Obviously the 3rd version is the most solid, the most secure. The first method is completely irresponsible, in my opinion and it would be my first red flag about an agency if they offered me a referral before I was paper-ready or before the child was paper-ready. The second model offers the advantage of a time-frame by with which parents can request additional testing or documentation if there are questions or concerns about the child, consult with the doctor and make the decision to pass or accept the referral in as close to full disclosure as possible, given the uncertainty of International Adoption. It has the disadvantage of leaving the PAP feeling as if it is a firm referral long before it truly is. There is likely to be a very long time between referral and travel which can also be difficult for the PAP but also serves as a good opportunity to really prepare for travel.

One thing to note is that the timelines should  be the same, not counting very slow provinces or other random hiccups,  regardless of referral method. The process is the process, the only difference is when you learn about the child. Whether you learn about the child the day they arrive at the orphanage, the day they are paper-ready or the day your dossiers or matched and approved at the DIA, the wait to travel from the date you are logged in should be about the same.