1. Results

3. R EASONS GIVEN FOR NOT RENEWING MEMBERSHIP OR BECOMING A MEMBER Disheartened – No Light at the end of the tunnel Distance – Don’t get to attend meetings/events Don’t see the added benefits to renewing membership Never heard of the FTA

5. Summary of reasons given for not attending meetings Distance Now Post Adoption Too early in the process Too long in the process Meetings more aimed at Post Adoption than Pre Adoption Didn’t know about the meetings Other Commitments Too depressing

7. C OMMENTS : As well as country updates could there be breakout sessions on different countries It’s a shames the meetings are not being supported and people are not standing together as one voice! Talks are too long and not interactive enough Meetings rarely run on schedule More focus on what's happening now. Good news stories are Pre Hague

8. S UGGESTIONS /C OMMENTS : Post Adoption workshops Social gatherings to Fota/Fitzgerald’s Park etc Weekend Workshops, leave the meetings as they are. Adoption Movies/Cultural Evenings could just make a long process harder

10.  Declaration Extension to 4 years  Teenage issues that arise with adopted children  What to expect Post Declaration – Pre Adoption  Regular updates from AAI on their work to put procedures in place with other countries  The way we are made to feel during the adoption process  False hope, lack of transparency  Long Term Fostering & Domestic Adoption  Implementation of Hague  How to proceed in other countries  Dealing with difficult behaviour  Talking to your child about adoption  Lack of progress since 2010 – What is being done by agencies and government  Political Lobbying – What are the FTA doing?  Return to Homeland  Meeting for Playschool/Primary Teachers on what they need to look out for.  Special Needs  Attachment Parenting  Specialist who has worked with children born as a result of incest/rape and where drug taking was an issue as this was not covered adequately in Prep Course

11.  We had many, many messages of support and thanks.  Lots of positive feedback on our communication and interaction via Facebook and Email

12.  It was interesting to note throughout the survey that some PAPs feel there is too much emphasis on Post Adoption in our meetings and some APs feel there is not enough emphasis on Post Adoption. We aim to cover both topics equally but it has to be noted that our Post Adoption meetings, most recently the HSE Speech and Language Therapist, are not being well attended. As there are no Post Adoption Services provided outside Dublin, these meetings are people’s opportunity to talk to experts. Please take the opportunity if you can at all.  There were a lot of comments saying that people did not know about meetings or hadn’t been invited to meetings. Our meetings are open to members and non members, there are no invitations required. Details of our meetings are emailed to members and are also posted on Facebook, Rollercoaster, Magic Mum and our website www.familiesthroughadoption.com twice in the run up to the meeting. So check out any of these outlets or send us an email at familiesthroughadoption@gmail.com and we will be happy to sent you the detailswww.familiesthroughadoption.com familiesthroughadoption@gmail.com

13.  Thank you everyone for all the messages of support and thanks. As most people will know, we are a voluntary group and our committee is made up of people who work full time jobs as well as the work that goes into keeping the FTA going. We are committed to supporting both Pre and Post Adoptive families and it is not easy in the current climate so thank you for acknowledging this.  We had 103 responses to our survey and we thank each and every one of you who took the time to complete it. Your feedback will help us greatly going forward. Thank You.