[rhouse77]

Permission granted for this post by Brandy

I wanted to take a minute to tell you about FRUA membership.

Families for Russian and Ukrainian Adoption Including Neighboring Countries (FRUA) - FRUA serves families with children from many countries including Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Serbia and Montenegro, Slovakia, Slovenia, and more!

Membership in FRUA is $25 to $50 per family/year, depending on your chapter. This includes free or reduced admission to our social events, educational seminars, and the National FRUA journal Family Focus (Review past articles here: http://www.frua.org/store/Reprints.pdf). Moreover, it gives you immediate support and access to other families who have adopted from Eastern Europe and Central Asia, and other children your adopted child can play, interact and grow up with who have been through the same experience.

FRUA also has an annual conference "Focus on Education and Development"
This year's conference is scheduled for April 26-28, 2007, in Redmond, WA, a suburb of Seattle. Read more here:
FRUA Conference
Past conference materials are available.
(All families are welcome at the conference, regardless of where your children were born.)

Joining FRUA
FRUA - Membership

If there isn't a chapter in your area, start one! It's easy, details are here!
Starting a Chapter

FRUA is a 501(c)(3)

[Teri M]

FRUA people are really "snipey" and if they don't like what you say - look out they are going to punish you....YIKES...

I know several people (including me) that were roasted over at FRUA. Glean your info - but be careful about posting.

Great info on agencies and helpful advice if you can cut thru the crap!!!

Just my 2 cents....

[karenmarq]

Thanks for writing this information.

I was not able to locate the "starting a chapter" info before and when I contacted someone from a number in the newsletter, I seem to have fallen into a black hole.

My husband and I were so active and happy and supported in the Northern CA chapter and will explore starting a chapter here in San Diego.

I am curious if there is anyone on here who has started a chapter? This area seems to be very fragmented with little groups that already exist. Was it easy/difficult?

{Yes, I was never brave enough to post on the FRUA site. Wicked! The in person thing was much better.}

Karen

[kimber413]

Yes, FRUA does have good things about it, but there are bad things as well. My feeling was that the bad things outweighed the good, and I stopped using that website for info. The few times I posted I got shot down, usually by the same one or two people, and always in an aggressive and distasteful manner. If you have anything good to say, there are certain members of FRUA that absolutely don't want to hear it.

I've found that his forum is much more helpful, less angry and aggressive, and not quite so bent on looking at the dark side of IA.

Of course, this is just my feeling. The in person meetings may be better. Karen, there's a chapter in L.A.

[Katie63011]

I think FRUA is great. Yes, people speak very bluntly and honestly but that is what most people are looking for opinions.

What I really like is that you can speak openly about agencies and I think that is very helpful to those in the selection process or trying to make head or tails of what their agency is telling them about their process.

Just my humble opinion.

I am a member of our local Chapter and it has offered great networking opportunities to meet others in my area with children from Eastern Europe.

[kimber413]

I agree that FRUA has useful information, but the agency discussions are one place to be very careful and take opinions with a grain of salt. There are agencies that are great, but a few very vocal people don't like them and write very negative things about them on the boards and jump on those APs that had a good experience with them. Same goes for the other way, too. It's difficult to know if the person posting is someone who actually used the agency, or perhaps even someone who works for that particular agency. So, just be careful and balance the information from several sources rather than relying on one.

[rhouse77]

FRUA membership is *totally* separate from the FRUA chat board. I agree there can be lots of sniping on that board. But most of the people reading that board are not FRUA members. And most FRUA members don't read that board.
I think there are only 3 families of the whole Ohio FRUA chapter who read that board.

FRUA events are about networking, kids and educating adults about kid's needs. Not at all like the FRUA chat.

Plus you get a great journal as well.

Yes, I started a "satellite" chapter in Columbus, it was easy. I just scheduled an event and people came!

[dlhall]

We belong to our local FRUA chapter and it's great to meet other families with children adopted from the same region of the world. We have gathered together for picnics, bowling, and scrapbooking parties.

Joining FRUA is completely different than reading the FRUA chat board. The people I've met have all been wonderful.

Liz

[hopeful_in_Wi]

I have tried three times over the last month to join the board and its never been approved. Oh well -- their loss I guess. I did buy their coffee though and its tasty!! YUM!

[rhouse77]

Hopeful - there is no approval process to join the board. Everyone is approved. You just need a log in to read or post.
I will PM you, maybe we can figure it out

[hopeful_in_Wi]

Originally Posted by rhouse77

Hopeful - there is no approval process to join the board. Everyone is approved. You just need a log in to read or post.
I will PM you, maybe we can figure it out

It said "you will get an email to activate your account" and it never sends one. No biggie ... I have enough chat boards to keep up with anyhow!

[KimOH]

Originally Posted by hopeful_in_Wi

It said "you will get an email to activate your account" and it never sends one. No biggie ... I have enough chat boards to keep up with anyhow!

Cindy -- did you check your "junk mail" folder? (Mine went to junk.) Or do you have one of those systems where it automatically blocks "spam" unless the person is in your address book (I think Earthlink offers this). If so, it might be "stuck."

The FRUA events are great (I've attended a few of Karen's, although with our busy schedules we don't make it to as many as I would like.) I like the FRUA chat board too. The sniping has toned down some since registration became required. And although there are some people that I don't agree with (in opinion or style), you get that on just about any board.

[kimber413]

I'm glad to hear that not all chapters are alike. I was talking mostly about the board, but sometimes chapter meetings get into the same snipe sessions. I'm all for any means for families to meet and support each other. In fact, we had a local support chapter in California that was for international adoption in general (not associated with FRUA), and I'd very much like to start a similar group here in the Dallas area. Great group of people, but we still had a bit of sniping from time to time.

[rhouse77]

Yes support groups in general are great! I also belong to a local group that is for all adoptions - international, domestic, etc.