love child
Born outside marriage
A love child is a child born to parents who aren't married to each other.
The term carries a romantic or euphemistic tone, suggesting the child resulted from a passionate affair rather than a committed relationship: The tabloids revealed that the politician had a love child from an affair twenty years ago.
It softens what older terms like "illegitimate" or "bastard" condemned.
Child of unmarried parents
- illegitimateNot authorized or recognized
- shamePainful awareness of failure
- disgraceLoss of honor
- ostracismBanishment from a group
scandal · gossip · prejudice · discrimination · exclusion · dishonor · scorn · taboo
Not authorized or recognized
- out-of-wedlockBorn to unmarried parents
- extramaritalOutside the marriage bond
- nonmaritalOutside wedlock
- unwedNot hitched
affair · biological · paternity · maternity · birthright · parentage · conception · filiation
Biological descendants produced
- progenyOne's biological descendants
- descendantPerson from earlier generations
- heirOne who receives legacy
- kinBlood-connected people
lineage · bloodline · ancestry · heritage · genealogy · succession · inheritance · kinship
Confirmation of receipt
- paternity testGenetic proof of parentage
- DNAHereditary code molecule
- legitimizationFormal recognition as valid
- inheritance rightsHeir's legal estate entitlements
custody · surname · birth certificate · disclosure · reunion · acceptance · reconciliation · identity
bastard
Child of unmarried parents
- illegitimateNot authorized or recognized
- shamePainful awareness of failure
- disgraceLoss of honor
ostracism · scandal · gossip · prejudice · discrimination · exclusion · dishonor · scorn · taboo · secrecy
illegitimate
Not authorized or recognized
- out-of-wedlockBorn to unmarried parents
- extramaritalOutside the marriage bond
- nonmaritalOutside wedlock
unwed · affair · biological · paternity · maternity · birthright · parentage · conception · filiation · baseborn
offspring
Biological descendants produced
- progenyOne's biological descendants
- descendantPerson from earlier generations
- heirOne who receives legacy
kin · lineage · bloodline · ancestry · heritage · genealogy · succession · inheritance · kinship · dynasty
acknowledgment
Confirmation of receipt
- paternity testGenetic proof of parentage
- DNAHereditary code molecule
- legitimizationFormal recognition as valid
inheritance rights · custody · surname · birth certificate · disclosure · reunion · acceptance · reconciliation · identity · discovery
- scandalscandal, infamy, disgrace, coverup, cover-up
- soap operassoap opera, telenovela, melodrama, cliffhanger, amnesia
- illegitimacybastard, illegitimate, bastardy, born out of wedlock
- birthlive birth, stillbirth, premature birth, breech birth, multiple birth
- infidelityadultery, affair, adulteress, cheating, cheater
- parentagepaternity, parentage, maternity, fatherhood, motherhood
love childlegitimate child
Offspring of a marriage
heir · legitimate heir · heir apparent · rightful heir · trueborn