birth mother

noun

: the mother of a child when the child is born

specifically : a woman who gave birth to a child who has been adopted

They had turned to an open adoption after pursuing infertility treatments for 18 years, and the birth mother had agreed to relinquish custody at the hospital.

—Emily Nussbaum

Examples of birth mother in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Here’s how Into the Fire: The Lost Daughter uncovers what happened to Bowman and how her birth mother became involved in the search. —Olivia B. Waxman, TIME, 12 Sep. 2024

Weirdly, my birth mother [Celia Crawford Ferguson], who hadn’t looked for me in 30 years, was looking for me right then. —Greg Carannante, Sun Sentinel, 16 July 2024

Ruby meets her birth mother and decides to search for her biological father while the Doctor continues on without her. —Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 7 July 2024

Popular on Variety Further complicating matters is the return of Simon and Maude’s birth mother Claire (Anne-Marie Cadieux), a touring opera singer who asks to reconnect during a stopover in their city after abandoning them 15 years earlier. —Todd Gilchrist, Variety, 13 June 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1906, in the meaning defined above

Legal Definition

birth mother

noun

birth moth·​er

: the woman who gave birth to a child especially as distinguished from the child's adoptive mother