Fatherhood after divorce (in Finland): experiences?

[Duo]

Hi,

The Lahti University of Applied Sciences organises a training package for social work professionals who meet divorced families through their work.
The theme of the training is "equality and justice to parenthood after divorce - fatherhood as a possibility and challenge"
and my focus as one of the lecturers is the divorced fathers of non-Finnish background (whose ex-wife or partner is Finnish).

Instead of simply sharing the statistics and research data available on this subject, I would like to also be able to talk about the thoughts and ideas of fathers whose experiences are often ignored or overlooked. Therefore, I am now looking for interviewees who would be willing to share some of their experiences confidentially.

I would like to learn:
1. How have you experienced your divorce?
2. Where have you found relevant information on divorce, custody of the children, residency, etc.?
3. How do you think the social and legal system has worked?
4. What challenges/difficulties have you experienced/are experiencing?
5. What do you think about fatherhood/motherhood/parenthood after divorce (in Finland)?
6. What kind of a relationship do you have with you child/children?
7. Anything else you'd like to share.

A personal story can tell so much more than any of the statistical tables!

You can contact me by sending an email to hanna.kinnunen(at)familiaclub.fi (to arrange a telephone meeting or to share your story) or
call me on 050-4522393 in strict confidence. Your name and other details will not be shared with anyone else.

Naturally you can also discuss the matter on this forum!

Looking forward to hearing from you and your experiences,
Hanna Kinnunen


PS. If you know someone, who might like to talk about their experiences, please forward this message to them. Thank you.

[FinnGuyHelsinki]

Just for the sake of clarification (I don't have personal experiences to share), does that include also separation (unmarried) when there are children involved?

[Duo]

FinnGuyHelsinki: yes it does. Divorced or separated from Finnish wife or partner.

It would be interesting to hear, for example, about how families go about deciding in which country to live. Most children stay with their mothers after the divorce, but in international relationships/marriages does the father (if it is the father who is living outside his home country) stay put, in this case in Finland, to be able to remain close to his children, and if he does decide to return to his home country (or move into a third country) what happens?