natural children
Out of wedlock
Natural children are offspring born to parents who are not married to each other—the traditional legal term for what is now usually called children born out of wedlock.
The phrase distinguishes biological children from adopted or stepchildren, and historically distinguished illegitimate from legitimate offspring.
In legal contexts, natural child still appears in inheritance and custody matters: The will provided equally for his natural children and his wife's children from her first marriage.
- illegitimateNot authorized or recognized
- born out of wedlockHaving unmarried parents
- out of wedlockBorn to unmarried parents
- offspringBiological descendants produced
- paternityMale parent status
bastards · biological · blood ties · birthright · by-blows · stigmas · social exclusion · consanguinity · progeny · descendants · family secrets · inheritance rights · Victorian morality · Roman law · parental responsibility · lineage · family law · kinship
natural childrenadopted children
foster children · stepchildren · adoptees · wards · ward
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