adoptive
adj.describing a family that has legally taken a child into their home to raise as their own. It can also describe the country or home where someone chooses to live.
adj.relating to the legal adoption of a child; describes the relationship from the perspective of the parent or the chosen environment. Often used to distinguish legal family ties from biological ones.
“She has a very close relationship with her adoptive parents.”
“After living in Madrid for twenty years, he considers Spain his adoptive home.”
“The documentary explores the emotional journey of several adoptive families as they navigate the complexities of open adoption and maintaining connections with birth relatives.”
Typically used attributively before a noun like 'parents', 'family', or 'home'.
Use 'adoptive' for the parent or family who adopts, and 'adopted' for the child who is taken in.
“When he was young, he read a “brilliant” book, Mister Fairweather and His Family, written as a tool to help adoptive children understand their origins.”
“There’s a suggestion, too, that Bezhig, her adoptive mother Golda (Lisa Edelstein) and her birth mother Patti (Ellyn Jade) are different sides of a singular shared experience.”
From adopt + -ive.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.