Labels: FRUA, Russian Adoption

I found some interesting information on FRUA today. You can look up adoptable kid’s photos that are on the Russian database in your region. This is Russia’s official site for this, so these photos are not illegally posted. You might find a photo here of your child, that you can copy and keep. It is true though that the databank lists lots of kids that are already home and is missing a bunch of kids that are in the databank. It is useful for finding pictures on your referrals that you otherwise may never see and to just see some of the children that are or were at your orphanage.

This is how you do it:

Go to: www.usynovite.ru/db/

Scroll down to the bottom where you can mark boxes and mark what applies to you (see translation to help you)-

Пол ребенка = Gender of the Child
мужской = male
женский = female

Цвет глаз = Eye Color
карий = brown; hazel
голубой = light blue
серый = gray
зеленый = green
черный = dark; black

Цвет волос = Hair Color
темные = dark
русые = light brown
черные = black
светлые = blonde
светло-русые = very light brown
темно-русые = medium brown

Год рождения = Year of Birth

Hold down the Ctrl key to select multiple regions from the list.

Агинский Бурятский АО = Aginski Buryatski AO
Алтайский край = Altaiski Krai (Barnaul)
Амурская область = Amurskaya Oblast (Amur)
Архангельская область = Arkhangelskaya Oblast (Arkhangelsk)
Астраханская область = Astrakhanskaya Oblast (Astrakhan)
Белгородская область = Belgorodskaya Oblast (Belgorod)
Брянская область = Bryanskaya Oblast (Bryansk)
Владимирская область = Vladimirskaya Oblast (Vladimir)
Волгоградская область = Volgogradskaya Oblast (Volgograd)
Вологодская область = Vologodskaya Oblast (Vologda)
Воронежская область = Voronezhskaya Oblast (Voronezh)
Еврейская АО = Jewish Autonomous District (Birobidjan)
Ивановская область = Ivanovskaya Oblast (Ivanovo)
Иркутская область = Irkutskaya Oblast (Irkutsk)
Кабардино-Балкарская Республика = Kabardino-Balkarskaya Republic
Калининградская область = Kaliningradskaya Oblast (Kaliningrad)
Калужская область = Kaluzhskaya Oblast (Kaluga)
Камчатская область = Kamchatkskaya Oblast (Kamchatka)
Карачаево-Черкесская Республика = Karachaevo-Cherkesskaya Republic
Кемеровская область = Kemerovskaya Oblast (Kemerovo)
Кировская область = Kirovskaya Oblast (Kirov)
Коми-Пермяцкий АО = Komi-Permyatski AO
Корякский АО = Koryakski AO
Костромская область = Kostromskaya Oblast (Kostroma)
Краснодарский край = Krasnodarski Krai (Krasnodar)
Красноярский край = Krasnoyarski Krai (Krasnoyarsk)
Курганская область = Kurganskaya Oblast (Kurgansk)
Курская область = Kurskaya Oblast (Kursk)
Ленинградская область = Leningradskaya Oblast (St. Petersburg Region)
Липецкая область = Lipyetskaya Oblast (Lipetsk)
Магаданская область = Magadanskaya Oblast (Magadan)
Москва = Moscow (City)
Московская область = Moscow (Region)
Мурманская область = Murmanskaya Oblast (Murmansk)
Ненецкий АО = Nyenyetski AO
Нижегородская область = Nizhegorodskaya Oblast (Nizhny Novgorod)
Новгородская область = Novgorodskaya Oblast (Novgorod)
Новосибирская область = Novosibirskaya Oblast (Novosibirsk)
Омская область = Omskaya Oblast (Omsk)
Оренбургская область = Orenburgskaya Oblast (Orenburg)
Орловская область = Orlovskaya Oblast (Orlov)
Пензенская область = Penzenskaya Oblast (Kuznetsk)
Пермская область = Permskaya Oblast (Perm)
Приморский край = Primorsky Krai (Vladivostok)
Псковская область = Pskovskaya Oblast (Pskov)
Республика Адыгея = Adigia Republic (Gorno-Altaysk)
Республика Алтай = Altai Republic
Республика Башкортостан = Bashkortostan Republic (Ufa)
Республика Бурятия = Buryatia Republic
Республика Дагестан = Dagestan Republic
Республика Ингушетия = Ingushetia Republic
Республика Калмыкия = Kalmykia Republic
Республика Карелия = Karelia Republic
Республика Коми = Komi Republic
Республика Марий Эл = Mari-El Republic
Республика Мордовия = Mordovia Republic
Республика Саха (Якутия) = Republic of Sakha (Yakutia)
Республика Северная Осетия (Алания) = Republic of North Ossetia
Республика Татарстан = Republic of Tatarstan (Kazan)
Республика Тыва = Republic of Tuva
Республика Удмуртия = Republic of Udmurtia
Республика Хакасия = Republic of Khakasia
Республика Чувашия-Чаваш = Republic of Chuvashia-Chavash
Ростовская область = Rostovskaya Oblast (Rostov)
Рязанская область = Ryazanskaya Oblast (Ryazan)
Самарская область = Samarskaya Oblast (Samara)
Санкт-Петербург = Saint Petersburg (City)
Саратовская область = Saratovskaya Oblast (Saratov)
Сахалинская область = Sakhalinskaya Oblast (Sakhalin)
Свердловская область = Sverdlovskaya Oblast (Ekaterinburg)
Смоленская область = Smolenskaya Oblast (Smolensk)
Ставропольский край = Stavropolski Krai (Stavropol)
Таймырский АО = Taimirski AO
Тамбовская область = Tambovskaya Oblast (Tambov)
Тверская область = Tverskaya Oblast (Tver)
Томская область = Tomskaya Oblast (Tomsk)
Тульская область = Tulskaya Oblast (Tula)
Тюменская область = Tyumenskaya Oblast (Tyumen)
Ульяновская область = Ulyanovskaya Oblast (Ulyanovsk)
Усть-Ордынский Бурятский АО = Ust-Ordinski Buryatski AO
Хабаровский край = Khabarovski Krai (Khabarovsk)
Ханты-Мансийский АО = Khanty-Mansiski AO
Челябинская область = Chelyabinskaya Oblast (Chelyabinsk)
Чеченская Республика = Chechenskaya Republic (Chechnya)
Читинская область = Chitinskaya Oblast (Chita)
Чукотский АО = Chukotski AO
Эвенкийский АО = Evenkiski AO
Ямало-Ненецкий АО = Yamalo-Nenetski AO
Ярославская область = Yaroslavskaya Oblast (Yaroslavl)

Возможные формы устройства = Potential Arrangement
усыновление = adoption
опека (попечительство) = guardianship (trusteeship)
приемная семья = foster family

Наличие братьев и сестер = Presence of Siblings
есть брат или сестра = has sibling(s)
нет = no siblings

Cool, huh?

Labels: FRUA, Photos Of Adoptable Russian Children

We have news- we found out that we will be adopting from the Bryansk region. Here are a few things I read about the area from FRUA comments:

“It's a very quaint town and the orphanages are supposed to be very good. The town of Klintsy is extremely poor. Most adoptions in the Oblast (ie, "province") of Bryansk are due to poverty. They call the children the Bryansk Beauties. It is a 6-7 hr train ride from Moscow- SW, near Ukraine.”

I was a little concerned, though, when I typed in Bryansk in the search engine for the first time and the top link that came up was www.chernobyl.info . Yes, Bryansk was (is still) affected by the Chernobyl incident. According to this article the Bryansk region was the Russian region MOST affected by the radioactive fallout.

It is interesting that I found out that we will be adopting from that region on May 2, 2006 and April 26, 2006 marked the 20th anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster. Also, I just finished my final school paper on April 28 on Environmental Problems, specifically mentioning health problems and referring to the Chernobyl disaster. At the same time I have been reading the book: Obsessive Genius, The Inner World of Marie Curie. (I had actually started the book a while ago, but was too busy to finish it before it was due back at the library, so I just recently rechecked it out a couple of weeks ago). And of course, Marie Curie discovered Radium. I highly recommend this book by the way. The question I have now is- is this a coincidence or is God trying to tell me something? Am I supposed to be learning something here? . Maybe God is just trying to tell me that this is where we are supposed to be. Everything that I have read about helping the kids in that area have been the same: The only proven way to save the children from the ravages of the Chernobyl radioactive contamination is to remove them from the area permanently. It sounds like the most common lingering affect is thyroid cancer.

I think it would do us all some good to remember and to realize that the affects still linger. See UNICEF’s recent photo essay here.

See article here

Labels: FRUA, Russian Adoption, waiting for referral

I was at a Waiting Parents Meeting (a FRUA event) the other day and a woman speaker was talking to us “waiters” about her adoption experience. She said that when she went over to Russia to meet her new children (she was adopting siblings) there was a little boy there who was so unhappy and depressed. She said that this little boy had met his new parents on an initial visit, and now he was waiting for them to return and get him. It had seemed so long to him and he was heart broken, wondering if they were ever coming back. He would only sit in a corner and look depressed. She said she felt really guilty because her two new kids were happily playing with her and her husband and he was just sitting there looking sad. She said her heart just went out to him.

This story just made me nauseous. I couldn’t help but think about my blogger friends who had children over in Russia waiting for them. I don’t know how long this little boy waited. I don’t know if he was ever retrieved, but I am just so grateful that the re-accreditations have come through and parents can be reunited with their children. That is where they belong. I say God speed.

I found the perfect quote to go with this post over on Lauri's Blog
Check it out.

Labels: FRUA, waiting for referral

I realize that I have very “creative” punctuation and my grammar is not always perfect. I know most of you are very forgiving about this, but there might be some anal retentive punctuation Nazis out there that are cringing at all of my posts. This is my explanation: I like to write how I talk. Correct punctuation does not allow this. It is much more formal. If I wrote that way I would fear my posts would sound similar to my recent research paper on stem cell research. It is very boring- unless, of course you like controversial subjects.

I actually like some controversial subjects. The truth of the matter is that I get this really strong sinking feeling when I debate controversial issues because I know I am not changing the world. Not only does nobody really care about my lowly opinion, but nobody is going to do anything about it. I have these types of worthless conversations all of the time. I know it is important to vote for people who share your views and to write to your congressman or to certain people, companies or organizations where your voice might be heard, but does arguing about it with someone really do anything?

I totally understand if it is an issue that is affecting you personally and you are frustrated because you can’t do anything about it and you are venting. Then the venting is doing something- helping you to feel better, but if you don’t feel like you need to get it off of your shoulders, then why argue it out?

O.K. Maybe it is just fun to debate issues. This can be true. That is probably why people do it. I can also see that by bringing up these types of issues you can see who thinks like you and than you know you have those things in common. Perhaps that is why the “discussions” on the adoption boards never cease. Still, the arguing can get so out of hand. I am not sure why people get so worked up. Back and forth bashing and flaming over something really trivial, like baby shower etiquette or homeschooling vs. public schools, etc. Most of the time the arguments are simply a difference of opinion and no one is really "right" or "wrong" - just different. For example- someone might feel "right" because they went to the trouble of bringing a car seat for their child in Russia and on the plane, while others argue that it is unnecessary and unwelcome. Nobody is necessarily right or wrong here.

I have tried to take everyones advice about the adoption boards. I unsubscribed to one of my adoption yahoo groups yesterday. I now only belong to two other groups. I just skim through them now and I rarely post anything. This keeps me feeling much better. I can’t seem to completely abandon them though because periodically I get these really good nuggets of great information. I know it is an illness (like being a pack rat because you may need that one item in the bottom of that box sometime in the future). I do religiously skip over all of the heated debates though and I don’t read FRUA chat unless I have a specific question I need answered.

Instead of these types of heated controversial issues; however, I prefer instead to argue about things like why it makes more sense for M to sew on the kid’s boy scout badges than for me to do it because scouting is a “male thing”. See this argument might actually be beneficial. I might ultimately not have to sew on any badges. I am still working on this argument. I need some better argument skills. Can anyone recommend a good book on this? Something that ultimately makes M feel like it was his idea to begin with?

Perhaps I could get M to do all of the rest of the adoption paper work if I had such a book. He could just tell me where to sign. Wouldn’t that be nice???

Labels: FRUA

I was going to have a one month bloggy Anniversary day. The Anniversary of the day I started this blog. I was going to have a big celebration and send out expensive gifts to everyone. BUT I realized that I started this blog on January 30 and HELLO there is no February 30th, so therefore no big celebration or presents for ya’ll. Sorry.

Blame it on an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom which specified use of the Gregorian calendar (which later spread to the U. S.) or if you need to blame a live person you can simply log onto www.FRUA.com chat. Go ahead and YELL it out there. Nobody will be alarmed. They will just acknowledge another irate, irrational FRUA member.

Actually though, FRUA chat is not that bad, and I think it is quite nice that February is short because it is so cold. March gives hope for spring and closer to the anticipated REFERRAL.

It doesn’t seem real that we will EVER get a referral or that we will EVER go to Russia or that we will EVER have a little girl in this house.

So meanwhile, to keep our minds off of this issue, let’s talk about Food. Everyone likes this subject.

Actually, I am not that in to food. I eat the same thing every single day. This way I don’t have to bother myself with thinking up new things to eat.

Jennefer’s Daily Diet

Kellogg’s “Complete” Bran Cereal with Milk
Minute Maid Orange Juice
Pepperidge Farm Whole Grain/ Honey Whole Wheat piece of bread with FF cream cheese
2 Quaker Chewy Granola Bars (the 25% less sugar variety)
Slim Fast Chocolate Shake
Strawberry Yoplait Nouriche (Yogurt Smoothie)
Banana
Water

That is what I eat every day unless we are out of bananas, and than I skip that. Our dinners vary; however, because my family is intolerant of eating the same dinner every day. They can be difficult like that.

Well, this subject hasn’t really gotten my mind off of the adoption. I am just trying to get through one day at a time - trudging through the waiting weeks as every bit of paperwork eventually expires. Here is an adoption update:

You: “So, how is your adoption coming along?”

Me: “Well… we have waited one more day since yesterday”.

You: “Weren’t you waiting for some re-accreditation thing or something? How is that going?”

Me: “I am not allowed to talk about that, but STAY TUNED….”

You: “So… are you going to a commercial now?”

Me: “No.”

You: “O.K?”

Me: “Well, I’d tell you my news now, but than I would have to egg your house.”


…. such mystery and suspense… more information to come…


Happy One Month Bloggy Anniversary anyway!!

Labels: FRUA, self help for adoptive moms

On this particular Russian adoption group thread I responded to a couple who were wondering which agency to choose. Most people were telling them to choose an accredited agency and to avoid non-accredited agencies like the plague.

I wrote:

I think one thing that needs to be brought up is that the agencies that are currently accredited could lose their accreditation when it expires this year and not receive it back right away.

Another consideration is that the unaccredited agencies that are next up for accreditation in the spring ( http://www.jcics.org/Russia.htm ) would be the agencies that would be guaranteed the longest accreditation time. I do not know exactly which of the last 18 or so agencies will receive accreditation in the spring, but if you are just starting it might be to your advantage to wait for these or to use an agency that was just recently accredited.


This was the response I received from a particular individual:

“I find your logic about agencies that are currently accredited possibly not receiving reaccreditation right away, unnecessary and flawed.

If we use the two examples of agencies recently reaccredited, it would seem others will receive theirs in a timely fashion as well. I am not sure why you would make such a statement. Is it only to spread unwanted fear into a community that is already "always on egg shells"?

If it is to be "realistic", then I find your view to be rather pessimistic.”



...Hmmmm… Did I sound pessimistic and like I was spreading fear??

Labels: adoption agencies, FRUA

I posted a couple of photos of our boys- so now you know it is true. We are over run with testosterone in this home. We are in desperate need of a girl to tilt the balance to the other side.

I was at a FRUA event on Wednesday evening (MNO) and I was talking about how I was worried that my boys might be a little too rough and tumble for a little girl in the house. However, the other FRUA members assured me that a little girl would change their ways and they would be very gentle. I guess we will see.

I also brought up "adoption blogs" at the Frua event. Someone mentioned that she hates the word "blog". I was so glad she said that because I really have never liked the word. In fact, I hesitated starting one because I so dislike the word. Couldn't they have just stuck with the word log or logging. I mean blog sounds so bloggy, bleggy, soggy or something. Perhaps they could have called it something cleaner or smarter. Well I suppose they could have called it webbing (from weblog instead of blogging) and we could have all felt like a great big family of ducks or perhaps spiders.

Labels: FRUA