Faces of mother and child; detail of sculpture at Soldier Field, Chicago, Illinois, USA. Soldier Field (formerly Municipal Grant Park Stadium) is located on Lake Shore Drive in Chicago Illinois, and is currently home to the NFL Chicago (ʃɪˈkɑːgoʊ is the largest City by population in the state of Illinois and the American Midwest of the United States. The State of Illinois ( roughly ill-i-NOY is a state of the United States of America, the 21st to be admitted to the Union. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the

A parent is a father or mother; one who sires or gives birth to and/or nurtures and raises an offspring. The father is defined as the Male Parent of an offspring The Adjective "paternal" refers to father parallel to "maternal" for "Mom" "Mum" and "Mommy" redirect here The Evolution of sexual reproduction is a major puzzle The first Fossilized evidence of sexually reproducing Organisms is from Eukaryotes of the Stenian Birth is the act or process of bearing or bringing forth Offspring. In Biology, offspring are the product of Reproduction, a new Organism produced by one or more Parents Collective offspring may be known The different role of parents varies throughout the tree of life, and is especially complex in human culture. Human beings, humans or man (Origin 1590–1600 L homō man OL hemō the earthly one (see Humus

Mother

Main article: Mother

Nestlings and mother Mourning Dove

A mother is the biological or social female parent of a child or offspring. "Mom" "Mum" and "Mommy" redirect here For the Native American author of the same name see Mourning Dove (author The Mourning Dove ( Zenaida macroura) is a member of the Female (♀ is the Sex of an Organism, or a part of an organism which produces ova (egg cells CHILD syndrome (or congenital hemidysplasia with ichthyosiform erythroderma and limb defects) is a genetic disorder In Biology, offspring are the product of Reproduction, a new Organism produced by one or more Parents Collective offspring may be known The maternal bond describes the feelings the mother has for her (or another's) child. The maternal bond is typically the relationship between a Mother and her child In the case of a mammal such as a human, the mother gestates her child (called first an embryo, then a fetus) in the uterus from conception or implantation until the fetus is sufficiently well-developed to be born. Mammals ( class Mammalia) are a class of Vertebrate Animals characterized by the presence of Sweat glands, including sweat glands Human beings, humans or man (Origin 1590–1600 L homō man OL hemō the earthly one (see Humus Gestation is the carrying of an Embryo or Fetus inside a Female Viviparous Animal. An embryo (from Greek:, plural, lit "that which grows" from en- "in" + bryein "to swell be full" is a multicellular A fetus (or foetus or fœtus) is a developing Mammal or other Viviparous Vertebrate, after the Embryonic stage and The uterus (from the Latin word for womb) is the major Female reproductive organ of most Mammals including Humans One end the For soil improvement see Fertilization (soil. Implantation is an event that occurs early in pregnancy in which the Embryo adheres to the wall of Uterus. The mother then goes into labour and gives birth. Childbirth (also called labour, birth, partus or parturition) is the culmination of a Human Pregnancy or Once the child is born, the mother produces milk to feed the child. Lactation describes the secretion of Milk from the Mammary glands the process of providing that milk to the young and the period of time that a Mother

Father

Main article: Father

A father is traditionally the male parent. The father is defined as the Male Parent of an offspring The Adjective "paternal" refers to father parallel to "maternal" for Male (♂ refers to the sex of an organism or part of an organism which produces small mobile Gametes called spermatozoa. Like mothers, fathers may be categorised according to their biological, social or legal relationship with the child. The sociology of fatherhood is a subbranch of Sociology which studies Gender role in society with particular reference to the parental role of the An interpersonal relationship is a relatively long-term association between two or more people Historically, the biological relationship paternity has been determinative of fatherhood. However, proof of paternity has been intrinsically problematic and so social rules often determined who would be regarded as a father e. The Law of evidence governs the use of Testimony (eg oral or written statements such as an Affidavit) and exhibits (e g. the husband of the mother.

Biological parents and parental testing

The term biological parent refers to a parent who is the biological mother or father of an individual. Reproduction is the Biological process by which new individual Organisms are produced While an individual's parents are often also their biological parents, it is seldom used unless there is an explicit difference between who acted as a parent for that individual and the person from whom they inherit half of their genes. History See also History of genetics The existence of genes was first suggested by Gregor Mendel (1822-1884 who in the 1860s studied inheritance For example, a person whose father has remarried may call his new wife their stepmother and continue to refer to their mother normally, though someone who has had little or no contact with their biological mother may address their foster parent as their mother, and their biological mother as such, or perhaps by her first name. Foster care is a system by which a certified stand-in "parent(s" cares for minor Children or young peoples who have been removed from their birth parents

Parental testing

Main article: Parental testing

A paternity test is conducted to prove paternity, that is, whether a man is the biological father of another individual. A maternity or paternity identification test is conducted to establish whether a person is the biological Parent of another person This may be relevant in view of rights and duties of the father. The Fathers' rights movement has been characterized as a Civil rights movement whose members are primarily interested in issues affecting fathers and children related to Similarly, a maternity test can be carried out. This is less common, because at least during childbirth and pregnancy, except in the case of a pregnancy involving embryo transfer or egg donation, it is obvious who the mother is. Childbirth (also called labour, birth, partus or parturition) is the culmination of a Human Pregnancy or Pregnancy ( Latin graviditas) is the carrying of one or more offspring known as a Fetus or Embryo, inside the Uterus of a Female Embryo transfer refers to a step in the process of in vitro fertilization (IVF whereby one or several Embryos are placed into the Uterus Egg donation is the process by which a woman provides one or several eggs ( Ova, oocytes for purposes of assisted reproduction or biomedical research "Mom" "Mum" and "Mommy" redirect here However, it is used in a number of events such as legal battles where a person's maternity is challenged, where the mother is uncertain because she has not seen her child for an extended period of time, or where deceased persons need to be identified.

Although not constituting completely reliable evidence, several congenital traits such as attached earlobes, the widow's peak, or the cleft chin, may serve as tentative indicators of (non-)parenthood as they are readily observable and inherited via autosomal-dominant genes. Several inheritable traits or congenital conditions in humans are classical examples of Mendelian inheritance: Their presence is controlled by a single Gene that can either On the Ear of Humans and many other animals the earlobe('lobulus auriculæ' sometimes simply lobe or lobule) is the soft lower part of the external ear A widow's peak (widow's brow is a descending V-shaped point in the middle of the hairline (above the forehead A cleft chin, chin cleft, dimple chin or chin dimple is a Dimple on the Chin.

A more reliable way to ascertain parenthood is via DNA analysis (known as genetic fingerprinting of individuals, although older methods have included ABO blood group typing, analysis of various other proteins and enzymes, or using HLA antigens. A blood type (also called a blood group) is a classification of Blood based on the presence or absence of inherited Antigenic substances on the Proteins are large Organic compounds made of Amino acids arranged in a linear chain and joined together by Peptide bonds between the Carboxyl Enzymes are Biomolecules that catalyze ( ie increase the rates of Chemical reactions Almost all enzymes are Proteins An antigen (from antibody-generating) or immunogen is a substance that prompts the generation of Antibodies and can cause an immune response The current techniques for paternity testing are using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP). A Restriction fragment length polymorphism (or RFLP, often pronounced as "rif-lip" is a variation in the DNA sequence of a Genome For the most part however, DNA has all but taken over all the other forms of testing.

Parent-offspring conflict

Main article: Parent-offspring conflict

Parent-offspring conflict describes the evolutionary conflict arising from differences in optimal fitness of parents and their offspring. Parent-offspring conflict is a term used to signify the Evolutionary conflict arising from differences in optimal fitness of Parents and their Offspring In Evolutionary biology, an evolutionary arms race is an Evolutionary struggle between competing sets of co-evolving Genes that develop adaptations Fitness (often denoted w in Population genetics models is a central concept in evolutionary theory. In Biology, offspring are the product of Reproduction, a new Organism produced by one or more Parents Collective offspring may be known While parents tend to maximize the number of offspring, the offspring can increase their fitness by getting a greater share of parental investment often by competing with their siblings. In Evolutionary biology, parental investment (PI is any Parental expenditure (time energy etc The theory was proposed by Robert Trivers in 1974 and extends the more general selfish gene theory and has been used to explain many observed biological phenomena. Robert L Trivers, (born 19 February 1943, ˈtrɪvɚz is an American Evolutionary biologist The gene-centered view of evolution, gene selection theory or selfish gene theory holds that Natural selection acts through differential survival of competing ^[1] For example, in some bird species, although parents often lay two eggs and attempt to raise two or more young, the strongest fledgling takes a greater share of the food brought by parents and will often kill the weaker sibling, an act known as siblicide. Birds ( class Aves) are bipedal endothermic ( Warm-blooded) Vertebrate animals that lay eggs. Siblicide (attributed to behavioural ecologist Doug Mock) the Death of an individual by its close relatives may occur directly between Siblings or

David Haig has argued that human fetal genes would be selected to draw more resources from the mother than it would be optimal for the mother to give, an hypothesis that has received empirical support. A fetus (or foetus or fœtus) is a developing Mammal or other Viviparous Vertebrate, after the Embryonic stage and The placenta, for example, secretes allocrine hormones that decrease the sensitivity of the mother to insulin and thus make a larger supply of blood sugar available to the fetus. The placenta is an Ephemeral organ present in placental Vertebrates, such as Eutherial Mammals and Sharks during Gestation Hormones (from Greek ὁρμή - "impetus" are chemicals released by cells that affect cells in other parts of the body Insulin is a Hormone with intensive effects on both metabolism and several other body systems (eg vascular compliance The mother responds by increasing the level of insulin in her bloodstream, the placenta has insulin receptors that stimulate the production of insulin-degrading enzymes which counteract this effect. Enzymes are Biomolecules that catalyze ( ie increase the rates of Chemical reactions Almost all enzymes are Proteins ^[2]

Bibliography

• Jacobus, Mary (1995). First Things: The Maternal Imaginary in Literature, Art, and Psychoanalysis. New York: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-90383-1.  

• Rich, Adrienne (1976). Adrienne Cecile Rich (born May 16 1929 in Baltimore, Maryland) is an American poet essayist and Feminist. Of Woman Born: Motherhood as Experience and Institution. New York: Norton. ISBN 0-393-08750-6.  

See also

• Bateman's principle - the theory that females almost always invest more energy into producing offspring than males, and that therefore in most species females are a limiting resource over which the other sex will compete. In Biology, Bateman's principle is the theory that females almost always invest more Energy into producing Offspring than males and therefore in most species A limiting factor or limiting resource is one that controls a process such as organism growth or species Population size or distribution
• Child abuse
• Egg and sperm donation. Child abuse is the physical, psychological or sexual maltreatment of children Egg donation is the process by which a woman provides one or several eggs ( Ova, oocytes for purposes of assisted reproduction or biomedical research Sperm donation is the name of the practice by which a Man, known as a sperm donor, provides his Semen with the intention that it be used to produce a baby

• Paternal bond
• Parental investment
• Surrogate mother

References

External links

• National Educational Network, Inc. (NENI) - free online resources for parent education, curriculum. They also have a parent blog with information about child care, afterschool, trends in education, tutoring, college, grants, etc.
• Discovery Health's Parenting Center Tools, information, video, expert advice, simulation games. . . Everything you need to bring up healthy children.
• Parents blog
•   "Parents". Catholic Encyclopedia. The Catholic Encyclopedia, also referred to today as the Old Catholic Encyclopedia, is an English-language Encyclopedia published by The Encyclopedia (1913). New York: Robert Appleton Company.   - A Roman Catholic view of the position of parents.