Mother Facts For Kids

A mother is the woman who cares for and raises a child, and she matters because her love and care help children grow and learn.

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Quick Facts

🍼A mother's breast milk contains antibodies that help protect an infant from sickness.

🤰A human pregnancy usually lasts about 9 months before the mother gives birth to her baby.

🥚Many girls begin to ovulate around the age of 12 or 13, which is when they can become pregnant.

📘The process of becoming a mother is sometimes called "matrescence."

👩‍👧An adoptive mother becomes a child's parent through legal adoption even if she is not the biological mother.

✨🇺🇸 In the United States almost half of all adoptions worldwide happen there, with over 127,000 adoptions in 2001.

Key Points

Mother is a word for the woman who cares for and raises a child.

Surrogate mother is a woman who carries a pregnancy for another person or couple.

Biological mother means the woman who provided the egg that helped make the child.

There are different ways a woman can be a mother.

Non-biological mother means a woman who is a mother but did not give the egg that made the child.

Motherhood in LGBTQ+ families looks like many kinds of families you know.

Photos of Mother

Image by Alessandro giudice, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0

Statue of a mother with children at the Monumental Cemetery of Staglieno in Genoa

Image by Korakys, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0

Map of countries by crude birth rate

Image by Korakys, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0

Map of countries by fertility rate

Image by UN, World Population Prospects (2024) – processed by Our World in Data, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0

Share of births by age of mother in Europe over time[5]

Image by John Hill, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0

Mother and child. Gandola Monastery, Lahaul, India.

Image by Steve Evans from Bangalore, India, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0

Sikkimese mother with child

Percentage of births to unmarried women, selected countries, 1980 and 2007[17]

Image by John Hill, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0

Mother and children (Mahabalipuram, India)

Olga Pearson Engdahl was American Mother of the Year in 1963.[20]

📘 Introduction

Mother is a word for the woman who cares for and raises a child. A mother can be the person who gave birth, the person who raises a child even if she did not give birth, or a woman who helped by giving an egg so someone else could carry the pregnancy. People often call a mother mom, mama, or mummy. Words like "maternal" describe things about a mother, and "to mother" means to care for a child. A woman who is going to have a baby is called a mother-to-be, and the change of becoming a mother has a special name: matrescence.

A mother can also be a kind adult who acts like a parent. Who do you think of when you hear the word mother?

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🔎 Surrogate Mother

Surrogate mother is a woman who carries a pregnancy for another person or couple. Often the egg used to make the child comes from the intended mother or a donor, and doctors place the fertilized egg in the surrogate's womb using a medical method like IVF. The surrogate gives the pregnant body and time to grow the baby, but she may not be the child's genetic mother.

Surrogacy helps people who cannot carry a pregnancy themselves to have a child. The grown-ups who asked for the surrogacy usually become the child's parents after birth. What do you wonder about how babies grow before they are born?

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🧭 Biological Mother

Biological mother means the woman who provided the egg that helped make the child. If the egg and sperm join and grow inside a woman's womb, that is pregnancy. In people, pregnancy usually lasts about nine months while the baby grows. After birth, many biological mothers feed their babies breast milk, which helps give food and protection from some illnesses.

Being a biological mother is one way to be a parent, but not the only way. Some women who are biological mothers raise their children, and some do not. What would you like to ask someone who remembers being a baby?

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💡 Ways To Be A Mother

There are different ways a woman can be a mother. She can give birth and be the baby's biological parent. She can become a mother by raising a child she did not biologically create, for example as an adoptive or stepmother. A woman can also help by giving an egg that is used with medical help and another woman carries the pregnancy.

These three paths—biological, non-biological, and surrogate—often share the same everyday work: feeding, teaching, and loving a child. Medical tools like in vitro fertilization, or IVF, can help some of these paths happen. Which way sounds most surprising to you?

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🌟 Non-biological Mother

Non-biological mother means a woman who is a mother but did not give the egg that made the child. Examples are adoptive mothers, who legally become the child's parent and raise them; stepmothers, who join a family when a parent marries; and foster mothers, who care for children for a while when they need a safe home. People also use the idea of an "othermother" for a neighbor, aunt, or family friend who helps raise a child.

These mothers do the everyday jobs of parenting—teaching, caring, and supporting. Sometimes a child has more than one mother who loves and helps them. Who helps care for children in your neighborhood?

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🧩 Motherhood In Lgbtq+ Families

Motherhood in LGBTQ+ families looks like many kinds of families you know. Lesbian and bisexual women may become mothers by having children earlier, using IVF, adopting, or fostering. Gay and queer men can become parents with help from egg donors and surrogates, or by adoption. Transgender women may become parents by adopting, fostering, or using stored sperm to make children with a partner. Right now, most transgender women do not carry pregnancies, though research about uterus transplants may change options in the future.

Some families find extra rules or harder steps when they try to adopt or use medical help, but many LGBTQ+ people raise loving families. What family stories have you heard that surprised you?

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Frequently asked questions

What does the word "mother" mean?

Mother is the word for a woman who cares for and raises a child. She can be the woman who gave birth, the woman who raises a child even if she did not give birth, or a woman who helped by giving an egg so someone else could carry the pregnancy.

What are the different ways a woman can be a mother?

A woman can be a biological mother by giving birth, a non-biological mother by raising a child she did not create, or a surrogate who carries a baby for someone else. These paths often share the same everyday work like feeding, teaching, and loving, and tools like IVF can help some ways happen.

What is a biological mother?

A biological mother is the woman who provided the egg that helped make the child. Pregnancy usually lasts about nine months, and many biological mothers feed their babies breast milk, which gives food and some protection from illnesses.

What is a non-biological mother?

A non-biological mother did not give the egg but is still a mother, such as an adoptive mother, stepmother, foster mother, or an "othermother" like an aunt or neighbor who helps raise a child. These mothers do everyday parenting jobs like teaching, caring, and supporting, and sometimes a child has more than one mother.

What is a surrogate mother?

A surrogate mother is a woman who carries a pregnancy for another person or couple. Often the egg comes from the intended mother or a donor and doctors place the fertilized egg in the surrogate using IVF, so the surrogate gives her body and time but may not be the baby's genetic mother.

How do LGBTQ+ families become parents?

Lesbian and bisexual women may become mothers by having children earlier, using IVF, adopting, or fostering, while gay and queer men can use egg donors and surrogates or adoption. Transgender women may adopt, foster, or use stored sperm with a partner, and some families face extra rules or harder steps, but many LGBTQ+ people raise loving families.