Families for Russian & Ukrainian Adoption
Including Neighboring Countries
Fact Sheet
WHO WE ARE: Families for Russian & Ukrainian Adoption, Including Neighboring Countries (www.frua.org) is a highly effective, all-volunteer 501(c)(3) organization offering hope, help and community to families connected to adoption. Founded in 1994, FRUA focuses on 32 Eastern European and Central Asian countries.
WHAT WE DO: FRUA supports families through our programming and network of adoption, medical, educational and cultural resources and orphan-support projects. Our work on behalf of our adoptees is conducted through FRUA-Young Adults, a group for and by teens.
FRUA accomplishes its mission by providing connections, education and support to families who have adopted from our part of the world.
FRUA volunteers work diligently to meet the goals of our 29th year:
1. Increasing and enriching FRUA-YA engagement
2. Sharing information, support and advocacy on the issues most meaningful to our families
3. Raising FRUA’s profile as a leading support network and information resource for international adoptive families
WHERE WE ARE: FRUA members are primarily in the United States. Some members, primarily expats, live in Europe and Asia. Our volunteers reflect the population we serve - adoptive parents, adoptees and professionals in the community.
WHEN WE CAN HELP: FRUA recognizes adoption is a lifelong journey. When children first arrive home, FRUA helps in numerous ways, including adjustments by the child and the new family. FRUA is also there as our children grow, providing resources, information, education, medical guidance and social activities like picnics and parties. Many families find life-cycle stages bring them back again and again to FRUA, especially as puberty arrives and changes so much of what we thought we knew about our children as they navigate the teen years and the transition to adulthood. FRUA addresses hot topics, such as birth family searches, parental stressors, emancipation, mentoring for those entering the workforce and identity.
FRUA families find our children go through phases of connection to their adoption, and there is an ebb and flow of emotions toward their birth parents and birth cultures and heritages. As a result, FRUA-Young Adults was formed to give our adoptees an opportunity to connect with each other. FRUA continues to evolve and improve to meet the needs of our families.
WHY JOIN US: FRUA is funded by annual dues ($40/year for a family membership, $10/year for FRUA-YA’s) and donations. There are no paid staff, meaning 100% of donations are used for FRUA programing.
FRUA provides opportunities for families to connect. FRUA members benefit from:
A respected national journal. The Family Focus addresses medical and adoption issues, educational advocacy, and birth country culture and heritage connections.
Educational programming on member-identified topics to support the success of our families.
A continually expanding Resource Directory.
FRUA-YA memberships, enabling our grown adoptees to connect with one another.
An orphan-support program facilitated by our Young Adult members.
FRUA scholarships for graduating high school seniors, college students, and those pursuing vocational and arts training who have been adopted from the former Soviet-bloc countries.
In addition, FRUA offers the general public:
Our active outreach to birth-country embassies and countries, advocating for fact-based views of our children, and doing our part to help keep intercountry adoption going.
Outreach efforts, including FRUA’s Facebook closed group, connecting thousands of adoptive parents for sharing experiences, finding help and celebrating victories.
FRUA continues offering these valuable and much needed services through partnerships and funds from membership dues and donations
Photos: Annual Meeting FY2023, support for Mom's House in Kazakhstan, FRUA-PNW Family Heritage Camp