Three ways of saying 'mother': 母, お母さん, 母親


お[母]{かあ}さん is used to address one's mother and [母]{はは} to talk about her
(related: [Titles for
family](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/59722/titles-for-
family)). Since [母]{はは} already means 'my mother', is 私の母 redundant?

And when/how/why is [母親]{ははおや} used?




私の母 **is** redundant, but it improves clarity. If you suddenly said 「母は……」, it
could confuse the listener for a split second if that was the first time you
mentioned your mother in the conversation.

One can use 母親 to refer to one's own mother in a very neutral, objective
manner. Some might prefer it over 母 in formal contexts, and one would almost
certainly prefer it if they had a negative relationship with their mother and
preferred to keep some 'emotional distance' from her (母 is also more objective
and 'distant' than お母さん, but 母親 tends to be even more so). Also, it can be
used to explicitly specify the fact that one is referring to one's female
parent; e.g.「産みの母親」and「育ての母親」as opposed to just「産みの親」,「育ての親」.

