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

Betty opened her family’s doors to me and she always looked out for me like a surrogate mother.

From Washington Blade

Catch the two together in the new comedy movie Together Together about a single man’s quest for a surrogate mother, and catch Notaro at the virtual OZY Fest 2021 this weekend.

From Ozy

Rebekah has a new daughter, born in January to a surrogate mother.

From The Daily Beast

Principal Asenath Andrews has been like a surrogate mother to thousands of teen moms in Detroit.

From The Daily Beast

You said that after you lost a third child in infancy, and you had twins with a surrogate mother.

From The Daily Beast

And it remains perfectly legal for a surrogate mother to sell her womb—also no small physical burden.

From The Daily Beast