"maternal relative" is a correct and usable phrase in written English.
It can be used to refer to a person who is related to someone through their mother's side of the family. This is in contrast to a "paternal relative," who is related through the father's side. Example: My maternal relatives are all from Mexico, while my paternal relatives are from Italy.
Since the skulls are reputed to be from mother and daughter, analysis of the maternally inherited mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) from the skulls and a maternal relative as a reference would be ideal.
The forensic institute is seeking a maternal relative to test DNA.
Because mitochondrial DNA is inherited only from the mother, samples used for comparison with a victim's must come from either a maternal relative or the victim's personal effects.
They were found to match Lawrence's DNA or that of a maternal relative to a certainty of 999 in 1,000.
However, the right of custody (ḥaḍānah) of young children whose parents are divorced or separated belongs to the mother or another female maternal relative.
We find that prenatal exposure to the death of a maternal relative increases take-up of ADHD medications during childhood and anti-anxiety and depression medications in adulthood.
In addition, many of the ancestors were then found in a family history database, and longevity information was gathered about their extended maternal relatives who share their maternally inherited haplogroups H and U.
The secret of his energy may have lain with his maternal relatives.
By 1908 they had moved to Omaha, Nebraska, where Sam Lerner's maternal relatives lived.
De Wolfe was educated privately in New York and in Edinburgh, Scot., where she lived with maternal relatives.
They hadn't known that their maternal relatives descended from the Selk'nam, a nomadic tribe of unknown origin that settled in Tierra del Fuego.
