The Flock's parents as seen in Max Ride: First Flight
During the first part of the Maximum Ride series, the Flock tries to find their parents. Only two of the members—Max and Iggy—managed to find theirs, though, and Max is the only one to love hers. They originally believed that they were all created in test tubes, but it seems that at least some of them, such as Iggy, Gazzy, and Nudge, were modified after they were born. The files indicated that they were all born around Virginia, Maryland, and Washington, D.C.
However, the files were suspiciously scrambled, contained contradictions, and often led to dead ends. In Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports, Jeb suggests that all of this information was either misinterpreted by the Flock, or a fake planted by the Director. He knows nothing about their parents, as some parents were only identified by numbers rather than name, and others were only involved briefly and they've lost contact.
Max's Parents[]
The Director[]
Marian Janssen, director of Itex, considered herself to be Max's mother and they bore a physical resemblance to each other. However, although she helped design Max, they are not biologically related.
Jeb Batchelder[]
Jeb collaborated with Dr. Valencia Martinez at Itex, and both donated genetic material to create the embryo that would become Maximum Ride. Jeb took the Flock from the School and spent several years raising them in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. In The Angel Experiment, he hinted at his relationship to Max, telling her that Ari was her brother.
In Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports, he meets with Max and her mini-Flock in Germany, and reveals her parentage including that he is her biological father and Ari was her half-brother.
Dr. Martinez[]
Dr. Valencia Martinez was an influential avian geneticist who collaborated with Jeb and donated the egg that became Max. However, after the School had a viable embryo, they cut all ties with Dr. Martinez and locked her out of the project. Dr. Martinez returned heartbroken to Arizona, where she had another child, Max's half-sister Ella. Max encountered them in The Angel Experiment, when she stopped to save Ella from some bullies. Max was struck by Dr. Martinez's kindness and motherly nature, and was overjoyed to learn their relationship in Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports. When they reunited, Max began calling her Mom, and Dr. Martinez played a parental role towards all of the Flock.
Fang's Parents[]
In The Angel Experiment, Angel, while telling the Flock what she'd learned about their origins, explains to Fang that his mother was a teenager who was told that he had died. His father is unknown. Fang is unhappy with this information and says that his mother was probably a crack addict.
While at the Institute, Fang finds a photo of a man and woman in their thirties, who look a lot like him. Nudge says that they must be his parents.
However, in School’s Out – Forever, Max says that Fang’s mother was a teenager who gave him up for adoption. When they try to track down her address, they find a barbershop instead.
It is unknown whether any of this information was reliable, given Jeb's statements that the files were misinterpreted or faked.
Nudge's Parents[]
Nudge was the first member of the Flock to look into her past and one of the few to know her birth name. Before leaving to find Angel in The Angel Experiment, she looked through Jeb’s old files and found some on herself, with a list of names and an address in Tipisco, Arizona. When she and Fang track down the address, 4625 Chaparral Court, it turns out to be a mobile home in a run-down trailer park. They see an African-American woman with her hair in curlers, smoking a cigarette and drinking soda. Nudge considers the possibility that this is her mother. However, before she can approach, Erasers attack and the two birdkids are forced to fly away.
Angel later explains that Nudge’s parents had been told she was dead.
In School’s Out – Forever, while exploring Itex, Nudge finds files on herself as well as a video clip of her parents two days after her abduction. Both are visibly upset and pleading for their child back. There are also medical forms authorizing Roland ter Borcht to “treat” the baby, but it’s implied that Jeb forged Nudge's parents' signatures. Another photo of her mother, some years older, was stamped “Terminated."
It is unknown whether any of this information was reliable, given Jeb's statements that the files were misinterpreted or faked.
Iggy's Parents[]
In The Angel Experiment, it is said first that Iggy's mother died in childbirth while his father is alive, and later that his father is deceased and his mother is alive.
In School's Out - Forever, Max overhears a news report while walking to her room in Anne Walker's home. The reporter is talking about how "the recent disappearance of several area children has brought back difficult memories for other parents who have lost children, whether recently or years ago." The reporter is interviewing two people: Tom Griffiths and his wife, "whose only son was taken from a local hospital right after his birth."
Remembering from a file the Flock found in the Institute that Iggy's last name was Griffiths, Max and Fang decide to do some searching. Posing as sellers for Wall Street Journal subscriptions, they manage to locate the Griffiths couple in a suburban house near DC.
After Thanksgiving dinner at Anne's, the Flock takes Iggy to the house. Thanks to a birthmark near his back, the Griffiths couple is able to confirm that he is their son, James. They say that he will stay with them, since they've finally found him.
However, Iggy comes back to the Flock within a short period of time after learning that his parents wanted nothing more than to turn him into a sideshow freak.
It is unknown whether any of this information was reliable, given Jeb's statements that the files were misinterpreted or faked.
Gazzy & Angel's Parents[]
In The Angel Experiment, Angel says that their parents supported the School's experiments and willingly sold their children. Despite his anger, Gazzy says that he forgives them after he finds a photo of them upon breaking into the Institute. The photo reveals a couple who bear a resemblance to Gazzy and Angel. Their address is 167 Cortlandt Avenue.
In School’s Out – Forever, Max and Fang try to find the house, but their list of addresses keeps leading to dead ends. One of the addresses leads to a crackhouse where they find a photo of an infant Gazzy and his mother inside a closet. Oddly enough, Dr. Martinez also has a copy of the photo.
In Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports, Gazzy is shown a version of the photo which reveals that his mother sold him to the School for $10,000. In the photo, he seems to be a few months old. It’s clear that the family is very poor, and his mother looks “tired and washed out.” The same thing most likely happened to Angel.
In Fang, Angel stated that the Flock's parents "were a test tube and a turkey baster," possibly contradicting the previous information.
Other Books[]
In When the Wind Blows, the Flock were altered as embryos when their mothers visited doctors who secretly worked for the School. The parents believed that their children had died when they were born, but were joyfully reunited with them at the end of the book. In the sequel, however, the Flock missed each other and didn't feel comfortable with their biological parents.
- Art and Teresa "Terry" Marshall were the parents of Max and her brother Matthew.
- Anthea and Mike Taranto were the parents of Ozymandias, the character closest to Fang; Mike died before they could meet.
- Joe and Anne Chen are the parents of Peter and Wendy, who resemble Gazzy and Angel.
- Mr. and Mrs. Stern are the parents of Icarus, the character closest to Iggy.
Eventually the Flock was adopted by Kit, an FBI agent, and Frannie, a veterinarian whose role was similar to Dr. Martinez.