On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article mother’s day 2021. A mother is the female parent of a child.
An adoptive mother is a female who has become the child’s parent through the legal process of adoption. A biological mother is the female genetic contributor to the creation of the infant, through sexual intercourse or egg donation. A father is the male counterpart of a mother. The adjective “maternal” refers to a mother and comparatively to “paternal” for a father. The verb “to mother” means to procreate or to sire a child, or to provide care for a child, from which also derives the noun “mothering”. Birth rates are lowest in Western countries.
A female can become pregnant through sexual intercourse after she has begun to ovulate. Typically, a fetus develops from the viable zygote, resulting in an embryo. Childlessness is the state of not having children. Childlessness may have personal, social or political significance. Childlessness may be voluntary childlessness, which occurs by choice, or may be involuntary due to health problems or social circumstances.
Mother can often apply to a woman other than the biological parent, especially if she fulfills the main social role in raising the child. Adoption, in various forms, has been practiced throughout history, even predating human civilization. Modern systems of adoption, arising in the 20th century, tend to be governed by comprehensive statutes and regulations. In 2001, with over 127,000 adoptions, the US accounted for nearly half of the total number of adoptions worldwide. A surrogate mother is a woman who bears a child that came from another woman’s fertilized ovum on behalf of a couple unable to give birth to children.