surrogate mother

noun

1. a person who acts in the place of another person's biological mother.
2. an animal that is given another's offspring to raise.
3. Medicine/Medical. a woman who helps a couple to have a child by carrying to term an embryo conceived by the couple and transferred to her uterus, or by being inseminated with the man's sperm and either donating the embryo for transfer to the woman's uterus or carrying it to term.

surrogate mother

/ ˈsʌrəɡəsɪ /

noun

1. a woman who bears a child on behalf of a couple unable to have a child, either by artificial insemination from the man or implantation of an embryo from the woman

Derived Forms

• surrogacy, noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of surrogate mother¹

First recorded in 1975–80

Example Sentences

The singer said People Watching is about Annie Orwin, who he described as "a surrogate mother in a lot of ways".

From BBC

“Oh, it’s so nice you have a surrogate mother in L.A.,” my own mother would often say of Loraine when she visited from the East Coast.

From Los Angeles Times

A couple has said their life has been made "hell" as they try to return to the UK with their daughter, who born through a surrogate mother in Belarus.

From BBC

Rosa was adopted by the Monterey Bay Aquarium in 1999 and served as surrogate mother for a record 15 otters.

From Los Angeles Times

The southern sea otter, 24, had served as a surrogate mother for 15 otters, the most in the aquarium’s history.

From Los Angeles Times