What is a referral?

If you are unfamiliar with the adoption process, then you don't know the steps. What Dave and I are currently waiting for is a referral. A referral is when we are matched with a child. Our agency receives information about a child that is eligible for adoption. They then look at all of the applicants to see who best matches up with the child. So we are waiting for an infant girl (0-12 months). The ticker above shows how long we have been waiting. Our dossier (all of the paperwork we had to collect) was approved on June 26th.
After we receive our referral, our case has to go to court in Ethiopia. We wait for our court date (up to two months after referral). Once we get through court, we then wait about two weeks for our child's birth certificate. After we receive the birth certificate, we then wait for a tentative travel date. So we can expect to travel approximately 12-16 weeks after we receive our referral.
We are so close to getting a referral!