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Alison, NC
I adopted my daughter from Kazakhstan in 2002. When she started asking questions about her heritage that I could not answer, I asked a friend from my adoption group how I could research her biological mother, she gave me Karen and Ruslan’s names. I emailed Karen and gave her what information I had about the birth mother, not even having a name for the birth father. She gave the information to Ruslan to start the search. I was worried that Ruslan wouldn’t be able to find her, or that she would not want to meet with him to relay any information about my daughter. During the waiting period, Karen was always there to answer my questions immediately, with compassion, and quickly got answers from Ruslan when I had them. Her birth mother had moved from a small village near Aktobe all the way across the country to Almaty. In a little over a week, Karen emailed me with the GREAT news that he had found her birth mom and had successfully met with her. I never expected to get such a complete report! We have pictures, contact information, and even got the name of her birth father and his contact information, and much more, including medical history. Her birth mom agreed to do a video, she had tears streaming down her face, telling my daughter that she loved her, words I know she needed to hear. I HIGHLY recommend Karen and Ruslan to help anyone who wants to find their child’s birth family. They are professional, compassionate, and trustworthy!!! Beth O'Malley Sadly, Anna Sternad James passed away unexpectedly in late 2019, as I read in the FRUA newsletter. Shocking for all of us who knew her and whose family benefited from her services. Karen Holt has taken over for Anna. Not to replace her. But to fill the void. In my 20 plus years doing lifebooks on the internet, Karen has been a reputable and familiar name, offering many resources for the adoption community. Now she is offering one more. You simply never know when things are going to change in adoption. I will be asking my 17-year-old Kaz born, Russian ethnic daughter if she wants to ' look' (for the 5th time) for any siblings. I trust both Ruslan and Anna. Ruslan did all my previous searches." Beth O'Malley [email protected] Alexa & Pete Anna & Ruslan worked together to conduct birth parent searches for our two adopted daughters. They were extremely professional, thorough, caring, and discreet. We were very satisfied with their work. Ruslan obtained all kinds of important information for us - information pertaining to birth relatives, birth siblings, birth family medical history, birth family professions and hobbies, etc. He also gave us photos of the birth mothers and the birth mothers' families. The information he sent us will be invaluable to our daughters as they grow older and begin asking questions about where they came from. We are very happy that we chose to go ahead with the searches. What we now know is the ultimate "gift" for our girls - the gift of information! Larry & Cyndi, Ohio We are Larry and Cyndi from Aurora, Ohio and we used Anna and Ruslan to conduct our two searches in Kazakhstan in 2004. We adopted Max from Semey in 2001 and Logan from Taraz in 2004. Ruslan was able to locate our younger son’s birth mother and obtain priceless information for our son. It was also uplifting to hear that his birthmother was happy to know he was loved and, in her words, “a heavy stone was lifted from her heart”. While our son Max’s search was unsuccessful, we received pictures of the town his birthmother listed as his birth city. We cannot say enough about Ruslan’s compassion for all involved and we were very pleased with his service. If you would like any specific questions answered, please do not hesitate to email us at ckeilin1 at mail.com |
Born abroad, adopted teens find home in multiple lands The Washington Post, January 2012, Tara Bahrampour Finding faraway roots Children of the 'quiet migration' go searching Vancouver Sun & Winipeg Free Press, December 2010, Denise Ryan Opening the Connection Adoption Today, December 2008, Gayle Lammers Return to Kazakhstan FRUA Washington DC Newsletter, January 2012, Roger Torstenson Seek and You May Find Newsweek, July 2005, Peg Tyre "Other" Moms Haunt The Denver Post, August 2006, Jenny Deam Roger & Karen We adopted our then 2-year-old daughter in 1997 from Kazakhstan. She has always been very inquisitive about her birth family. Finally, Karen and I decided that we wanted to proceed with such a search. If successful, it would provide Deanna with some answers as well as possibly provide us with a family medical history. Karen discovered that Anna did such searches through a reputable contact in the Ukraine. In February 2004 we contacted Anna and provided her with the requested information. The initial search done by Ruslan was completed in June of that year, but was not successful. Ruslan, however, was determined to try again and by December 2004, was able to locate the family. It was a terrific success, as Deanna found that both birthparents were living as well as 8 brothers and sisters, all as a close-knit family unit. Deanna's early medical problems had necessitated hospitalization far from the family home. We also were provided photos and information on all grandparents, uncles, aunts, and cousins. We have been corresponding, through Ruslan, and hope that this will continue for years to come. Deanna is overjoyed as she has received letters from her birthmother and sisters. She is now a healthy, happy girl of 10 (going on 15!) and this summer she has gone to Russian language camp in Minnesota to enhance her limited skills in Russian. I must say that both Anna and Ruslan have been a joy to work with. They are both very prompt in answering inquiries and most efficient with what they do. We recommend them highly! |
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