Sharing thoughts and feelings with someone with similar experiences as yours can sometimes feel easier. The mentorship programme trains mentors to act as support for people in various points of the adoption path. The programme is aimed for adoptees of all ages, adoptive parents, -families as well as prospective parents.  The programme offers low-treshold support on your adoptive journey nation-wide in both Finnish and Swedish. The mentorship is based on the personal and confidential relationship between a mentor and a mentee. 

Mentors are regular people with regular know-how; they are adult adoptees and adoptive parents who have underwent our mentorship training. A mentor is a caring, balanced adult who will walk beside you and who offers support in their own, unique way by listening and sharing. A mentorship gives you a chance to spend time and share thoughts with a trusted peer. The programme is cost-free.

An adoptee or adoptive family may find their need for support activated at different points in life; when entering adulthood, when starting a family, or when a child starts day care or school. Adoptees of all ages, adoptive parents and adoptive parents-in-waiting who wish for personal peer support and to confidentially share their thoughts and concerns regarding their lives with a peer, can apply for a mentorship. By talking things over with an adult with shared experience it is possible to find new points of view, strength and solutions. As varied and individual as every adoption story, experience and background is, so is the need for support.

A mentor and a mentee will meet each other approximately once a month, but the procedure may be adapted according to the mentee’s wishes and need for support. The mentor pair may choose for themselves how they wish to spend their time together. You may for example talk over a cup of coffee, go for a walk or go bowling. A mentor can also acompany an adoptee meeting their biological family for the first time, or when they visit a service provider for post-adoption services. The mentorship programme won’t replace support given by professionals; it gives you the chance to spend time with a peer who understands you and can relate to your experiences.