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Glite Dictionary
surrogate mother

surrogate mother

11 4.3
A woman who becomes pregnant to have a baby for another person or couple
  • noun
  • /ˈsɜrəɡət ˈmʌðər/
translation icon : madre subrogada
  • Under British laws, a surrogate mother who has provided an egg can claim the baby back within two years of the child's birth.
  • surrogate mother's uterus
  • surrogate mother to bear
  • baby with a surrogate mother

He pays a woman to be the carrier, the surrogate mother at at five months of gestation.

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Examples

  • She is practically my surrogate mother.

    You've Got Mail (1998)

  • A surrogate mother helped a couple realize their dream of having a family.

  • I just want you to be a surrogate mother.

    Paternity (1981)

  • So Pete and his husband adopted a child from a surrogate mother who basically gave birth.

  • The only sensible option is a surrogate mother.

    Seed of Chucky (2004)

  • I'm sure she loves being their surrogate mother.

    The Brood (1979)

  • I'm hiring a surrogate mother.

    Paternity (1981)

  • Other states prohibit payment to the surrogate mother.

    Academic text (2003)

  • The surrogate mother is paid by the married couple for renting her womb.

    Academic text (2007)

  • One of the girls who lived in my dorm served as a surrogate mother for two different pregnancies.

    Blog text (27)

Synonyms

birth mother
vssurrogate mother
50 3.6

A woman who has a baby but is not the child's legal or social mother

is a woman who carries a pregnancy for intended parents by arrangement

How Commercial

rent-a-womb
  • Offensive
9.9
surrogate mother
11 4.3

Surface Forms

surrogate mother singular
surrogate mothers plural

Morphology

surrogate + mother

The meaning 'a woman who bears a child for another person' is compositionally built from 'surrogate' (a person who stands in for another) + 'mother' (female parent who gave birth), so a learner who knows both constituents can readily infer the MWE meaning. This construction is semantically transparent and parallels equivalent formations in many languages, making it accessible to B1 learners.

Etymology

Surrogate mother comes from surrogate, a word meaning 'a person who takes another person's place', and mother, a woman who carries a baby. So a surrogate mother is a woman who carries a child for people who cannot, which is why the phrase means 'a woman who bears a child for another person or couple'.