Being Adopted documents the nuanced emotions and experiences of adult adoptees, as captured through three words. Adoptees were asked: If you could choose any 3 words to describe your experience as an adoptee, which ones would you choose?
| Lonely | 40 |
| Alone | 26 |
| Confusing | 18 |
| Loved | 18 |
| Lost | 15 |
| Misunderstood | 13 |
| Loss | 11 |
| Grief | 10 |
| Angry | 9 |
| Complicated | 9 |
| Confused | 8 |
| Love | 8 |
| Sad | 8 |
| Painful | 7 |
| Abandoned | 6 |
| Anger | 6 |
| Different | 6 |
| Disconnected | 6 |
| Invisible | 6 |
| Isolating | 6 |
| Trauma | 6 |
| Alien | 5 |
| Broken | 5 |
| Healing | 5 |
| Isolated | 5 |
| Longing | 5 |
| Rejected | 5 |
| Complex | 4 |
| Curious | 4 |
| Erased | 4 |
| Outsider | 4 |
| Rejection | 4 |
| Secret | 4 |
| Traumatic | 4 |
| Unwanted | 4 |
| Afraid | 3 |
| Belonging | 3 |
| Bewildering | 3 |
| Chosen | 3 |
| Dissociated | 3 |
| Emotional | 3 |
| Family | 3 |
| Found | 3 |
| Hiraeth | 3 |
| Insecure | 3 |
| Isolation | 3 |
| Lies | 3 |
| Loneliness | 3 |
| Loving | 3 |
| Misfit | 3 |
| Mistake | 3 |
| Overwhelming | 3 |
| Pleaser | 3 |
| Sadness | 3 |
| Scared | 3 |
| Special | 3 |
| Unknown | 3 |
| Unlovable | 3 |
| Unloved | 3 |
| Void | 3 |
| Abused | 2 |
| Alienated | 2 |
| Alienating | 2 |
| Amazing | 2 |
| Change | 2 |
| Contradiction | 2 |
| Determined | 2 |
| Disappointed | 2 |
| Duality | 2 |
| Emptiness | 2 |
| Exhausting | 2 |
| Floating | 2 |
| Fortunate | 2 |
| Fragmented | 2 |
| Fraught | 2 |
| Gaslit | 2 |
| Grateful | 2 |
| Hidden | 2 |
| Hurt | 2 |
| Identity | 2 |
| Lifelong | 2 |
| Lucky | 2 |
| Maddening | 2 |
| Other | 2 |
| Pain | 2 |
| Perplexing | 2 |
| Questioning | 2 |
| Rage | 2 |
| Replaceable | 2 |
| Resilience | 2 |
| Shame | 2 |
| Shattered | 2 |
| Silenced | 2 |
| Solitary | 2 |
| Struggle | 2 |
| Surreal | 2 |
| Survival | 2 |
| Survivor | 2 |
| Traumatized | 2 |
| Traumatizing | 2 |
| Unfair | 2 |
| Unique | 2 |
| Unreal | 2 |
| Unworthy | 2 |
| Why | 2 |
| Worthless | 2 |
| Abandonment | 1 |
| Abuse | 1 |
| Abusive | 1 |
| Acceptance | 1 |
| Accepted | 1 |
| Adapt (At Any Cost) | 1 |
| Adaptable | 1 |
| Adaptable (Compliant) | 1 |
| Alien (Not Fitting In) | 1 |
| Alienation | 1 |
| Alive | 1 |
| Ambiguous | 1 |
| And | 1 |
| Annngerrrrr | 1 |
| Anxiety | 1 |
| Apotropaic | 1 |
| Assimilated | 1 |
| Attached | 1 |
| Beautiful | 1 |
| Betrayal | 1 |
| Bewildered | 1 |
| Bittersweet | 1 |
| Brave | 1 |
| Bravery | 1 |
| Breakable | 1 |
| Bullshit | 1 |
| Bumbling | 1 |
| Burden | 1 |
| Cared For And About | 1 |
| Chamelian | 1 |
| Changed | 1 |
| Chaotic | 1 |
| Chimerical | 1 |
| Clear | 1 |
| Clueless | 1 |
| Compliance | 1 |
| Conflicted | 1 |
| Conformity | 1 |
| Confusion | 1 |
| Courageous | 1 |
| Culture | 1 |
| Dark | 1 |
| Death-defying | 1 |
| Deep | 1 |
| Deep Grief | 1 |
| Defective | 1 |
| Dehumanising | 1 |
| Demeaning | 1 |
| Denial | 1 |
| Déraciné | 1 |
| Desolate | 1 |
| Desolation | 1 |
| Desperate | 1 |
| Destroyed | 1 |
| Detached | 1 |
| Devastated | 1 |
| Devestating | 1 |
| Devoid | 1 |
| Dichotomy | 1 |
| Difficult | 1 |
| Discarded | 1 |
| Discombobulating | 1 |
| Disconnect | 1 |
| Disconnecting | 1 |
| Dishonest | 1 |
| Disjointed | 1 |
| Disoriented | 1 |
| Disowned | 1 |
| Disposable | 1 |
| Dissociation | 1 |
| Dissonance | 1 |
| Distrusting | 1 |
| Disturbing | 1 |
| Divergent | 1 |
| Divine-intervention | 1 |
| Drifting | 1 |
| Dystopian | 1 |
| Empowering | 1 |
| Empty (Who Am I, Why Don’t They Love Me) | 1 |
| Enraged | 1 |
| Exciting | 1 |
| Excluded | 1 |
| Excruciating | 1 |
| Expectations | 1 |
| Expendable | 1 |
| Extraterrestrial | 1 |
| Failing-to-fit-in | 1 |
| Failure | 1 |
| Fake | 1 |
| False | 1 |
| Fantastical | 1 |
| Fear | 1 |
| Fog | 1 |
| Foggy | 1 |
| Forgiveness | 1 |
| Fortune | 1 |
| Fractured | 1 |
| Frightened | 1 |
| Fulfilling | 1 |
| Fury | 1 |
| God | 1 |
| Gone | 1 |
| Gratifying | 1 |
| Great Life And Family | 1 |
| Happy | 1 |
| Hate | 1 |
| Hazy | 1 |
| Healed | 1 |
| Heartache | 1 |
| Heartbreaking | 1 |
| Hollow | 1 |
| Home | 1 |
| Hope | 1 |
| Hopeful | 1 |
| Houses | 1 |
| Humbling | 1 |
| Hypervigilant | 1 |
| Illegitimate | 1 |
| Imperfect | 1 |
| Imposter | 1 |
| Impotent | 1 |
| Imprecatory | 1 |
| Included | 1 |
| Inconvenient | 1 |
| Incorrigible | 1 |
| Independent | 1 |
| Infuriated (Resentful) | 1 |
| Inhibited | 1 |
| Insignificant | 1 |
| Instructive | 1 |
| Jagged | 1 |
| Journey | 1 |
| Kaukokaipuu | 1 |
| Kindness | 1 |
| Kintsugi | 1 |
| Lacking | 1 |
| Latent | 1 |
| Liberated | 1 |
| Lie | 1 |
| Luck | 1 |
| Marketable | 1 |
| Mine | 1 |
| Misinderstood | 1 |
| Misplaced | 1 |
| Missing | 1 |
| Missing Pieces | 1 |
| Mistreated | 1 |
| Misunderstood (No One But Adoptees Know What It Is To Be Adopted) | 1 |
| Muted | 1 |
| Mystery | 1 |
| Mystical | 1 |
| Navigating | 1 |
| Needy | 1 |
| Negation | 1 |
| Nerve Wracking | 1 |
| Nightmare | 1 |
| Nonconcentual | 1 |
| Not Alone | 1 |
| Not-belonging | 1 |
| Obscured | 1 |
| Of | 1 |
| Optimistic | 1 |
| Orphan | 1 |
| Othered | 1 |
| Outside | 1 |
| Overprotected | 1 |
| Parents | 1 |
| Pervasive | 1 |
| Pining | 1 |
| Possession | 1 |
| Powerless | 1 |
| Primal | 1 |
| Protective | 1 |
| Puzzling | 1 |
| Questioned | 1 |
| Regret | 1 |
| Regret (For Not Being There For My Natural Family For The Tough Times And Good Times) | 1 |
| Released | 1 |
| Relentless | 1 |
| Relinquished | 1 |
| Remade | 1 |
| Rescued | 1 |
| Resilient | 1 |
| Restless | 1 |
| Robbed | 1 |
| Safe | 1 |
| Saudade | 1 |
| Scary | 1 |
| Searching | 1 |
| Secrets | 1 |
| Self-hatred | 1 |
| Silent | 1 |
| Solitude | 1 |
| Soulchanging | 1 |
| Split | 1 |
| Stifled | 1 |
| Stolen | 1 |
| Stolen Identity | 1 |
| Sucks | 1 |
| Taken | 1 |
| Temporary | 1 |
| Terror | 1 |
| Thankful | 1 |
| Thought-provoking | 1 |
| Tired | 1 |
| Tiring | 1 |
| Torn | 1 |
| Tough | 1 |
| Traffic | 1 |
| Tragic | 1 |
| Transformational | 1 |
| Transformative | 1 |
| Trapped | 1 |
| Truth | 1 |
| Twice | 1 |
| Twin | 1 |
| Un-moored | 1 |
| Unanchored (Adrift) | 1 |
| Unattachable | 1 |
| Unattached | 1 |
| Unbearable | 1 |
| Uncompréhension | 1 |
| Unconditional | 1 |
| Unconditional Love | 1 |
| Unfinished | 1 |
| Unfortunate | 1 |
| Ungrateful | 1 |
| Unheard | 1 |
| Unlost | 1 |
| Unnecessary | 1 |
| Unrooted | 1 |
| Unseen | 1 |
| Unsettling | 1 |
| Unsupported | 1 |
| Untethered | 1 |
| Untouchable | 1 |
| Unwell | 1 |
| Uprooted | 1 |
| Uprooting | 1 |
| Violation | 1 |
| Wanderer | 1 |
| Wanted / Unwanted | 1 |
| Weary | 1 |
| Weird | 1 |
| Wonderful | 1 |
| Wound | 1 |
