Meaning & use
natural parent
Last updated
Meanings
nouncountableformal
The man or woman who is biologically related to a child, as opposed to a parent who raises the child.
Grammar: Countable: you can say a natural parent or the natural parents of a child.
Patterns
- someone's natural parent
- the natural parents of a child
- trace a natural parent
The court ruled that the child's natural parents should be told about the adoption.
She grew up with adoptive parents and met her natural parents for the first time at twenty.
Hospital records list the natural parent's name, not the name of the person caring for the baby.
nouncountableformallegal
Either of the two people who gave a child their genes, used especially in legal and medical contexts.
Grammar: Often in the plural: the natural parents. Singular forms take a singular verb.
Patterns
- give consent as a natural parent
- a natural parent's rights
- identify the natural parents
Both natural parents must sign the consent form before the adoption can go ahead.
Doctors asked whether either natural parent had a history of the illness.
Under this law, a natural parent keeps certain rights even after losing custody.
Word forms
| plural | natural parents |
|---|
Common combinations
- the child's natural parent
- The form asks for the name of the child's natural parent.
- natural parent's rights
- The judge explained that a natural parent's rights can be ended by a court order.
- meet your natural parents
- He decided to meet his natural parents after his adoptive mother died.
- trace a natural parent
- Some adults use DNA tests to trace a natural parent.
- natural parent versus adoptive parent
- The article compares the role of a natural parent with that of an adoptive parent.
Synonyms and how they differ
- biological parent
- This is the usual neutral term today and sounds less old-fashioned than natural parent; it fits well in science and everyday talk.
- birth parent
- Used especially when a child was adopted; it stresses the act of giving birth rather than biology, and is common in adoption services.
- biological mother
- Names one parent specifically and is more precise than the general term natural parent when you mean the mother.
Opposites
Word family
- natural adjective
- Relating to nature or to something you are born with.
- parent noun
- A person who raises a child; the base word of this phrase.
- parental adjective
- Relating to parents, as in parental consent.
- parenthood noun
- The state of being a parent.
Commonly confused: natural parent or birth parent? natural parent or adoptive parent?
natural parent vs birth parent
Birth parent is the modern term preferred in adoption contexts, while natural parent is older and more formal. They mean much the same thing, but natural parent can sound dated to some readers.
natural parent vs adoptive parent
An adoptive parent raises a child who is not their own by birth, so the two terms describe opposite roles and should not be mixed up.
Practice
Which sentence uses "natural parent" correctly and naturally?
Choose one answer.
"Natural parent" means the person a child is biologically related to, so an agency helping adults find them is the natural use. Option 0 and 3 describe adoptive or raising parents, and option 2 describes a stepfather, so all three clash with the meaning of the term.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “natural parent”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.