Disownment happens when a parent renounces or no longer acknowledges a kid as a family member, generally after the youngster does something unseemly and the acts have major emotional implications. A disowned kid is one who has been disowned by his or her parents. Disownment can be very painful for the child who has been rejected by their parents. He or she may feel alone in the world or like nobody cares about them. Often these kids are not getting the necessary love and support from their parents either because they were born outside of marriage (divorcees often disown their children) or because they were born into families with limited means (often times poor farmers' kids are disowned by their families). Some ways of referring to a child who has been disowned by their parents include "disowned child", "outcast child", "rejected child", and "alienated son/daughter". Generally speaking, it is not recommended to use the term "disowned person" because this implies that someone has decided to reject certain aspects of their life - relationships, habits, etc. - which is not true of most cases of disownment. However, if you do want to use this term then you should understand that it refers only to those people who have been officially denied access to their parents or guardians.