Do you feel you have a "family of choice"?

I often hear people tell me about their "family of choice." I even told an acquaintance once a little about how I don't have a very close relationship with my family, and the acquaintance told me that I needed to build my own family of choice. She started telling me about her experiences working abroad and how she and her husband made their own friends there, and it helped her enjoy her experience abroad while being away from her family. I wish I had a network like this for myself, but I don't.

I have some friends here and there, and I have a long-term boyfriend. I know there are some people who have great relationships with their partner's family, and in my case, I do not really feel a part of their family, although they are nice people, if you know what I mean. I don't live in the place where I grew up, and during my 20s, I was often moving, sometimes to the point where every year I was going to work or study in different places. I know this has also negatively contributed to feeling as though I don't have a strong network of friends, especially who live where I am located now.

All my life, i have felt I lacked the feeling of being a part of a group of good friends, and my family network is not really like a group of loving supportive people. My family is more competitive with one another in a negative way, and people can be quite mean spirited. I would not ever want to share my problems with my family or anything vulnerable about myself, really.

Do you have your own family of choice, or do you also struggle to feel like you have a network of chosen family?

Thank you if you read this.

Edit/update: I have really appreciated the responses so far. I don't know you, internet strangers, but thank you 💛🫂.