Legal Definitions - birth mother

A birth mother is a woman who carries an embryo during the gestational period and delivers the child. This term is sometimes interpreted as including a pregnant woman who has not yet given birth. When a child is conceived through artificial insemination, the birth mother may not be the genetic or biological mother. And she may not be the legal mother.

For example, if a woman agrees to carry a child for another couple who cannot conceive, she is called a surrogate mother. She carries the embryo throughout pregnancy and gives birth to the child, but she does not have any parental rights over the child. The couple who commissioned the surrogacy become the legal parents of the child.

Another example is when a woman gives up her child for adoption. She is the birth mother of the child, but she may not be the legal or biological mother. The adoptive parents become the legal parents of the child, and the biological mother may or may not have any contact with the child.