wombchild

plural wombchildren · alternative womb-child · alternative womb child

1. poeticA child still in the womb (i.e. a human embryo or fetus).

   If ever there were retribution for shedding of innocent blood, who shall answer in the earth for this shedding of blood? That of the wombchild. Most innocent of blood.

   2015, Ravens Station Steward, Ravens Station Steward

   1 more example

   Some words heard during the pregnancy, including words the mother is listening to carefully, again and again, can inspire a higher level of attention in the wombchild.

   2016, Robert Bruce Newman, Calm Birth, page 173

2. poeticA child of one's womb, as opposed to one who is adopted.

   Her wombchild Taimi burst into the hall, gasping, his eyes glittering with the heedless excitement of his fifteen years.

   1985, S. M. Stirling, Snowbrother, page 19

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   My mother, Guyr Thade Tage em Ereb, was impatient, warm-hearted, and impartial, not exerting much control over us three wombchildren, but keeping watch.[…] I treasured it for years and finally shared it with my own wombchild.

   1996, Gardner Dozois, The Year's Best Science Fiction, page 473