Recognize “Everparent” as a Word Honoring Parents Who Have Lost a Child

Everparent (noun): A parent whose child has died, but whose love, bond, and identity as that child’s parent continue forever.

A wife who loses her husband is called a widow. A husband who loses his wife is called a widower. A child who loses their parents is called an orphan. Yet the English language has no widely recognized word for a parent whose child has died.

My wife, Jessica, and I know this loss personally. Our son, Aiden, died in 2009 at only four and a half years old. Although Aiden is no longer physically beside us, we never stopped being his parents. Our love for him did not end, and neither did the bond that made us a family.

That is why we created the word everparent.

“Bereaved parent” describes our grief, but everparent describes something more: the permanent love, bond, and identity that remain after a child dies. It recognizes that death may take a child from a parent’s arms, but it can never take that parent’s love or erase their place in each other’s lives.

We are asking people to sign this petition to support the recognition and use of everparent in the English language. Our goal is to demonstrate meaningful public support, encourage its use by families, grief organizations, counselors, writers, and the media, and eventually present evidence of that use to English dictionary publishers for consideration.

This petition is not only about creating a word. It is about giving grieving parents a name that honors both their loss and the love that continues forever.

We offer everparent to every mother and father carrying a child in their heart instead of their arms.

Please sign and share this petition in memory of Aiden and every child who is deeply loved, profoundly missed, and forever remembered.

We are everparents because we will always be their parents.