How are the family units created in the community?

The first step in forming a family unit happens when an adult applies to receive a spouse.  An applicant might wait for months or even years before a Match is found and approved.  Factors such as disposition, energy level, intelligence, and interests must correspond perfectly for a Match to be sanctioned by the Committee of Elders.  After the spouses are joined at the yearly Matching of Spouses ceremony, the Match is monitored for 3 years by the Committee before the couple can apply to receive a child.

Children are born to Birth Mothers, women who serve in that capacity for three years and then are assigned to be laborers for the rest of their lives.  The children are raised collectively by Nurturers until they are a year old, at which time they are distributed by assignment at the yearly Naming and Placement ceremony among those Matches who have applied for children and been approved.