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

Other Word Forms

• surrogacy noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of surrogate mother¹

First recorded in 1975–80

Example Sentences

Owner Margarita Xatruch not only cooks for her customers, but also acts as a surrogate mother of sorts.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

One baby ransacked her belongings, another clung to her for months as a surrogate mother.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Taking to the stage, Fender dedicated the award to his late mentor, Annie Orwin, who he previously described as "a surrogate mother in a lot of ways".

Read more on BBC

After years following the BioRescue Project, Jon A. Juárez witnessed a breakthrough in rhino conservation, the first successful transfer of a rhino embryo to a surrogate mother.

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The process produced 45 embryos, which were implanted in dogs as surrogate mothers, ultimately producing the three pups.

Read more on Los Angeles Times