The Power of Peer Support

I was recently reminded when providing the history of how ICAV came into being that we originally started as a support network for intercountry adoptees by intercountry adoptees. We began because I experienced nowhere to turn when wanting to connect in with others like me. Since then, I’ve learnt many times over about the power of peer support and that it cannot be underestimated!

I constantly hear from adoptees about the lack of post adoption supports that could improve the complex journey of being an intercountry adoptee. Wherever we are adopted to and from, the lack of accessible and known post adoption support is the common theme across our sending and receiving countries.

Today, I share Stephanie’s experience, a Filippino adoptee from the mid 1980s. Her story highlights the extent in which some intercountry adoptees can feel alone. I use the word “some” because I don’t want to over generalise but instead point out that no-one in our governments actually faciliate surveys to assess how we as adult adoptees fare once our adoption is transacted.

It is peer support groups like ICAV that become the melting pots for en masse experiences of intercountry adoptees around the world.

Our governments should not underestimate the power of our peer support and the positive impacts this can have in helping reduce the sense of isolation many can feel. I hope one day we will see our governments who facilitated our adoptions, provide the much needed funding to financially support peer group support organisations (formal or informal) like ICAV and those associated with ICAV.

We provide an immense amount of support around the world that is currently either not provided at all by our governments, and/or some supports that cannot be provided by professionals who do not understand the lived experience.

The power of peer support comes from providing true empathy, removing the sense of isolation derived from a/some situation(s) and giving someone (figuratively speaking) a hand to hold onto; from those who have travelled before and intuitively understand the challenges.

Some examples of current peer group support within ICAV’s wider informal network:

• Search & Reunification, including DNA Testing
  (Australia currently provides a free service via ISS Australia funded by our Federal Government but in most other sending & receiving countries, no such government funded service exists).
  Some adoptee led groups providing this: Brazil Baby Affair (BBA), Born in Lebanon, Plan Angel Colombia, 325Kamra.
• Return to Homeland
  Some adoptees setup home stay places for other adoptees
  Knowledge is shared in FaceBook groups from adoptees who have returned before
  For those returning to live for an extended period, knowing how to navigate visas, finding work, or where to go for translation services
  Some adoptee led groups providing this: International Korean Adoptee Association (IKAA) and their large network for Korean adoptees, Adopted Vietnamese International (AVI), The Voice of Adoptees (La Voix Des Adoptes – French), some individuals for Sri Lanka & Vietnam.
• Informal Mentoring for the every day experience of being an intercountry adoptee
  Being available via social media 24×7 (which can be exhausting and difficult with little stated boundaries and all support provided by volunteers).
  Allt Adopterledda grupper listad av ICAV.
• Böcker, konstverk, filmer, multimedia av levd erfarenhet
  Vissa adopterade ledde grupper som tillhandahåller detta: Decoding Origins (Colombia), Adoptionland, ICAV, Lost Sarees, Out of the Fog, The Rambler, L'Hybride.
• Kontakt ansikte mot ansikte
  Informella sociala evenemang som underlättar vänskap och nätverkande
  Formella evenemang som konferenser, sammankomster, möten,
  Några adopterade ledda grupper som tillhandahåller detta: AdoptionPolitiksForum, ICAV, Adoptee Rights Campaign (ARC), The Voice of Adoptees, Asian Adult Adoptees of British Columbia (AAABC), I'm Adopted, Chinese Children International (CCI), även känd som (AKA) ).
• Försvar att förbättra våra situationer och utbilda den bredare allmänheten om den komplexitet vi står inför.
  Några adopterade ledde grupper som tillhandahåller detta: AdoptionsPolitiksForum, Adoptionland, ICAV, ARC, The Voice of Adoptees, Adoption Museum Project, CCI.
• Forskning kompletteras av andra internationella adopterade akademiker som är specifika för internationell adoption från hela världen.

Förhoppningsvis ger detta dig en inblick i den enorma mängd arbete som tillhandahålls av adopterade organisationer och individer som tillhandahåller gratis, kamratstöd till våra andra internationella adopterade. Vi vill minska antalet upplevelser som Stephanies och se till att de redan adopterade får det stöd de förtjänar.

Obs: alla grupper som anges ovan finns på ICAVs sida Adopterledda grupper