Different female parent, not married (5)
I believe the answer is:
other
'different' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'female parent not married' is the wordplay.
'female parent' becomes 'mother' ('mother' can be a synonym of 'female parent').
'not' is a deletion indicator.
'married' becomes 'm'.
'mother' with 'm' taken away is 'OTHER'.
(Other definitions for other that I've seen before include "Different (from those mentioned)" , "Throe (anag)" , "Not the one mentioned" , "Distinct" , "Alternative of two" .)