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

Using the video footage, machine learning and years of field observations, the scientists were able to identify the birth mother as a sperm whale named Rounder. —Nathan Rott, NPR, 27 Mar. 2026

The film cuts to Taparjan in the present going back to Romania to trace her origin and find her birth mother. —Murtada Elfadl, Variety, 20 Mar. 2026

The stories that Mihaela and I were given, for example, about our birth mothers and our country of origin, are really interesting. —Georg Szalai, HollywoodReporter, 15 Mar. 2026

Sixty-two years after her secret birth, Brenner read her birth mother’s name. —Thomas Koetting, jsonline.com, 23 Jan. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1906, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for birth mother

• another
• godmother
• grandmother
• stepbrother
• stepmother
• brother
• nother
• other
• smother
• souther

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