Becoming a foster mother, as the term implies, refers to raising a child who is not biologically a women's offspring, on either a short-term basis or for an extended period of time. Children placed in the care of a foster mother are either removed from the biological parent as the parent is deemed unfit or unsuitable by the state to raise the child, or alternatively, the process of child transferal to an alternative caregiver is a voluntary process that does not involve state intervention. Being a foster mother differs considerably from formal adoption as in the case of adoption the biological child is permanently removed from the parent-child unit and the biological parents cede all rights to the child.

Alternatively, in the case of fostering, the ...