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?
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?
Word |
# of times used |
| 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 |