People use to be able to chose for themselves who they wanted to marry and have children with. That all changed after the war. There were not enough people. They started to marry their cousins, babies were born with defects. That's when the government stepped in. They gathered everyone living outside the capitol and separated them into 13 districts, they separated families as much as they could, sending second and third cousins to live in different districts. The people were warned if they married a first cousin their children would be severely deformed. Several people did it anyway, their children were fine for the most part, or so I hear. Now its against the law to marry or have a child with anyone other than your mate.

When you are 12 years old you get a blood test, your sample is put into a computer system with everyone else. Its matched with someone who's DNA is different from your own to be sure you are not related, it is also matched to be sure you will produce healthy children. That's what the government really wants out of this. The nation is dying because so many stopped having babies when they were first forced to marry. Now, birth control is against the law, and if you don't have a baby with in a year of being married, you have to see a special doctor, they will see that you are pregnant by the end of year two.

So how do they chose your match?, Well, your blood is drawn at 12, but you don't find out your match until you are 18. You graduate High School in May and learn your match in June. Well, us girls do. Boys may have to wait until their mate is 18. I have a friend Gale, he has just turned 20, no match. His mother called the matching services department, he does have one, she hasn't become of age.

My name is Katness Everdeen, I am 18 years old and tomorrow I will learn my match.