World of children’s experiences, meanings, values, emotions is still an unexplored area for social sciences. Particularly interesting are children’s experiences of being a member of the modern family. In the literature a lot is written about transformations of the family as a social group, it’s functions, tasks, risks and emerging alternative entities in the form of non-normative family practices are analyzed. Much is said about the phenomenon of orphanhood also as a consequence of the crisis experienced by the family. In the analysis of the problem of orphanhood attention is primarily placed on social orphanhood as the most visible and verifiable in statistics expressing the number of children living in residential care or foster care family forms. Little is mentioned about emotional orphanhood. The issue of emotional orphanhood is complex, which makes it extremely difficult study it. Definitions found in the literature are often not unequivocal. Emotional orphanhood can be divided on psychological, spiritual, occult, caused by emigration. Definitions are based on different criteria: emotional rejection, narrowing or lack of realisation of parental functions, temporary disconnection of family members. The common part of them is the fact that every one of them describes a child that lives without satisfying basic emotional needs (love, intimacy, acceptance, understanding) due to weakening or destruction of emotional bonds.