The Identities of Young Interrnational Adoptees in Finland

Authors

• Heidi Virkki

DOI: https://doi.org/10.23979/fypr.45038

Keywords:

international adoption, national identity, cultural identity, racism

Abstract

Of the 30,000 children adopted yearly all over the world, about 200-300 come to
Finland. A former adoption donor country, Finland started receiving international
adoptees in the 1970s. Nowadays, there are about 3,000 internationally adopted
persons in Finland. This paper focuses on the views and experiences of young Finnish
international adoptees, who were interviewed during summer and autumn 2005.
Altogether three group interviews and six individual interviews were carried out. The
main aim was to study cultural identity and experiences of difference. The primary
objective of this study is to give a voice to young international adoptees in Finland and
present results as examples of how the dominant population adapts to difference.