phrases - A way of describing the lesbian parent that is not pregnant?


A friend of mine is in a long term relationship with her female partner. After deciding they wanted a family, my friend's girlfriend got pregnant.


Normally when talking about a couple expecting a baby you would use phrases like



An expectant mother or Mother-to-be (i.e., the woman is pregnant)



or



An expectant father or Father-to-be (i.e., the man's partner is pregnant)



According to my friend, having used the traditional phrases so far has led to people saying things like "But you're not even showing!" or "Well, I don't think you should be drinking!" etc... She's taken to humorously calling herself the Father-to-be instead which has got me wondering.


How would you convey the message that although somebody is a mother-to-be, they are not the ones that are pregnant?



Answer



Using the inverted-gender pronoun for the partner in a homosexual relationship who is not physically pregnant is entirely sensible, although a bit odd.


If you want an alternative, parent-to-be is a fair term which is not mismatched on gender and does not include the same health restrictions as mother-to-be. Of course, one wonders how you would describe a woman who is expecting a child through a surrogate.


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