How FRUA got its Name

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Families for Russian & Ukrainian Adoption (FRUA) got its name from founder, Linda Crumbpecker in 1993. At that time, there were very few families who had adopted from the "Old World" and those who had, did so primarily from Russia and Ukraine. Much has happened in the last 5 years. Periodically, FRUA has been asked if the organization will change its name to reflect the times. After much discussion, the feeling is that a change would not be in FRUA’s best interest. We have worked long and hard to make the name FRUA recognizable to the international adoption community, to orphanages and others in the US and abroad. It might also surprise you to learn that many people only know us by the acronym, not what each letter stands for!

In 1996, Families for Russian & Ukrainian Adoption added the sub-heading "including all former Soviet republics" to be more inclusive and to reflect more accurately our members who have adopted from Azerbaijan, Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzistan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan, as well as Russia and Ukraine. We have always had a handful of members with children born in Bulgaria, Romania, Poland and Hungary.

This diversity is welcomed and wonderful, but it does present a challenge of finding one all inclusive, not too cumbersome sub-heading to explain who we are. Some of the ideas that were toyed with:

• Including Eastern European Countries - This is not inclusive enough. It is our understanding that the Russian and Ukrainian people do not like to be categorized with the Eastern European community. Families who have adopted from Khabarovsk or Vladivlostock are more Asia-Pacific than Eastern European.

• Including All Former Soviet Republics - This is probably the most PC of our choices, since it is recognized by the UN and other organizations as the proper way to refer to the geographic region. It also covers over 90% of our membership as of this writing. Unfortunately, the words "Soviet Union" conger up very dark images for too many Americans who grew up during the Cold War. Many people see the words "Soviet" and "communist" as interchangeable. In the great history of the region, only 70 years fall under the Soviet system. Moscow just turned 850 years old, so using FSU only reflects the recent political history.

• Including Commonwealth of Independent States - CIS was only in existence from 1991 - 1993. Members joined and left. Many countries never belonged to CIS. It would be like referring to the US South as the Confederacy. It doesn’t exist any more.

• Including Slavic Cultures - This is the least inclusive of all! Omitted would be the Baltics, Tartars and many other ethnic groupings of the region.

There does not appear to be one "right" answer to this dilemma. For now, we would like to say Families for Russian & Ukrainian Adoption - Including Neighboring Countries. This gives the feeling that we are all part of the same community or neighborhood. We are looking for cooperative efforts, not limiting ourselves to two countries. While FRUA does not claim to be experts in all the cultures of the geographic region, we will share what we learn. We invite you to contribute by submitting articles, resources and family photos. FRUA will continue to support all families brought together by international adoption through community, education and resources.