Amanda Grayson Amanda Grayson was a Human teacher from Earth . ( , " et al . " ) She was a wife to Sarek , as well as mother of Spock and foster mother to Michael Burnham . ( , " et al . " ) History . Amanda was born around the turn of the 23rd century . ( ) During the late 2220s , Amanda met Sarek , the Vulcan Ambassador to Earth . The two later married , and she returned to with Sarek . ( ) In later years , in describing his parents ' relationship , Spock stated that his mother " considered herself a very fortunate Earth woman . " ( ) In 2230 , Amanda gave birth to her only son , Spock . A few years later , Amanda and Sarek adopted Michael Burnham after her parents ' death . ( ; ) It was not uncommon for Spock to mention his mother ' s origins . ( ) While under the influence of polywater intoxication , Spock regretted that he " " could never tell her that he loved her " . " ( ) Spock once spoke of Amanda ' s fondness for reading the works of Lewis Carroll . She often read stories , such as " Through the Looking - Glass " , to both Spock and Burnham during their youth . ( ; ) In 2249 , Amanda told Burnham to retain her human side and gave her a copy of " Alice ' s Adventures in Wonderland " as a mother ' s gift . She later expressed shock at Michael ' s rejection from the Vulcan Expeditionary Group , citing her academic record as proof of her worthiness to join it . ( ) Burnham continued to carry the copy with her after her conviction and imprisonment , including aboard . ( ) In 2257 , after the ended , Amanda came to visit Michael twice . Amanda asked her " Isik for your thoughts ? " , to which Michael responded with the question of what an isik is . Amanda admitted she had no idea , and that it was just something her mother said to her . Michael then thanked Amanda for not giving up on her , explaining that she never understood Amanda ' s desire for her to retain her humanity until now , and Amanda told her it ' s what mothers do . Amanda was later seen sitting in the audience at the celebration ceremony for the victory of the war and Michael ' s promotion to science officer . ( ) " In an alternate timeline created by the death of Spock in 2237 , Amanda and Sarek separated and she returned to Earth , where she was killed in a shuttle accident at Lunaport . " ( ) During the Babel Conference of 2268 , she accompanied her husband aboard the , and helped Sarek and Spock to reconcile some of their differences . Spock wondered why his father would marry an emotional woman . Sarek replied that at the time , it seemed the logical thing to do , a comment Amanda found quite charming . ( ) During this journey , Captain Kirk was at a loss as to how to properly refer to her , calling her " Mrs . Sarek . " Amanda said that her married name was usually unpronounceable by humans , although she could do it " after a fashion , and with many years of practice . " She said to simply call her " Amanda " . ( ) In Vulcan society , she was referred to as " the Lady Amanda " . ( ) In 2286 , Amanda helped her son to re - educate himself after his death and rebirth on the and " fal - tor - pan " rejoining . In particular , she tried to help Spock rediscover his Human side . ( ) Years after her death , Sarek hadn ' t forgotten her . While suffering from Bendii Syndrome , he regretted not having been tender to her and having never told her how much he loved her . ( ) Appendices . Background information . Amanda Grayson was played by Jane Wyatt in and . The voice of Amanda was provided by Majel Barrett in . The role of young Amanda in was played by Cynthia Blaise . Winona Ryder , who played in ' s , appeared as " this " Amanda in a deleted scene from that film , a scene set before a divergence in the timeline created the alternate reality . In 2017 , Mia Kirshner appeared as Amanda in . Amanda was referenced as early as the second pilot of " Star Trek " , , in which Spock mentions " a Human female " who once married one of his ancestors . The fact this Human was Spock ' s mother was first established in the next installment to be produced , . According to D . C . Fontana , the reason this character was named " Amanda " was that it means " worthy of being loved . " ( " " , p . 217 ) The script of " Journey to Babel " includes a description of Amanda that reads , " " She ' s in her late fifties and still a fascinating woman . . . straight , slim , humor and warmth still alive in her . . . and guts . She married a Vulcan and came to live on his world where her human - woman emotions had no place . She has accepted every bit of the unemotionalism Vulcan could dish out with no loss of her own warmth and human caring . . . but it has had to be buried inside , in deference to her husband ' s customs and world . " " When it came time to cast " Journey to Babel " , the role of Amanda Grayson was initially offered to Anne Baxter , who turned it down . ( ) Unlike the character of Sarek , Amanda Grayson was not included in . According to Director Leonard Nimoy , " " When we first contructed the story , the scene which subsequently played between Kirk and Spock ' s father [ in Kirk ' s apartment ] was originally intended to also include Amanda . It was supposed to be Spock ' s parents coming to Kirk to say , ' How dare you do this to our son ? " " Nimoy continued to say that " " The original intention was a conversation scene , without the mind meld . But after several rewrites , it was decided the scene " had " to feature the mind meld . Once that became a factor , Amanda was extraneous . Without something vital to do , there was no reason to have her just stand around . [ . . . ] I don ' t want the supporting cast to merely be a background chorus . If they ' re in a scene , they should have something to do , some " reason " for being there . " " ( " " # 106 , , p . 54 ) Her absence from the resurrection of Spock that takes place in the conclusion of that film was explained to be because the production staff couldn ' t find a way to feature her in the story without her presence seeming overly sentimental . Executive Producer Harve Bennett reckoned , " " All she would have contributed was sympathy . The economy of the story was that Kirk and crew get Spock back . Family is secondary . That would have depreciated the moment when Spock says , ' Your name is Jim . ' Then we ' d have to cut to mother and she would say , ' Oh my God , he speaks ! " " ( " The Making of the Trek Films " , p . 46 ; " " , 3rd ed . , pp . 87 - 88 ) William Shatner originally intended for Amanda to feature more in " Star Trek V " than she actually does , wishing to explore her relationships with Sarek and Spock . At one story meeting during which Shatner voiced these interests , David Loughery was concerned about accounting for Amanda ' s influence on Sybok , though Harve Bennett replied , " " There are solutions to that . " " ( " " , pp . 64 & 65 ) Once , when Sarek actor Mark Lenard was asked where Amanda was in the " Star Trek " movies , he replied , " " In the kitchen ! Where else would a good Vulcan wife be ? " " ( " Cinefantastique " , Vol . 27 , No . 11 / 12 , p . 103 ) Amanda died sometime between " Star Trek IV " and , as Sarek had remarried to Perrin by the time of that episode ' s setting . In the deleted scene from the film " Star Trek " featuring Winona Ryder as this character , Amanda was portrayed in the aftermath of the birth of Spock , attended to by a pair of Vulcan midwives , with the scene dated on - screen as occurring in 2230 . Amanda was described in the version of the scene from the film ' s script as " " late 20 ' s . An original beauty . " " In both the script and the final version of the scene , Amanda softly said " hello " to the newborn Spock and , much to the puzzlement of one of her Vulcan midwives , she cried . In the script but not the final version , Amanda was frustrated with Sarek , once he arrived , for coming too late to be present for the birth but , after he apologized , she embraced and kissed him . Responding to Sarek suggesting they name the baby " Spock " , she took some time to quietly consider , then finally accepted the suggestion . Apocrypha . The novelization of ( as published in " Star Trek Log 1 " ) describes Amanda in an image of her from circa 2237 ( i . e . , shortly before her death in that episode ) as being pictured " in her early thirties . " This roughly matches the fact that , in the novel " " , her year of birth is established as being 2202 . In the " Crucible " book " The Fire and the Rose " , her death is established similarly to her death in the alternate timeline in the episode " Yesteryear " . She dies in 2311 in a shuttle accident when returning from an art exhibition in Paris . The novel " Sarek " established her death ( with Spock at her side and Sarek away on a Federation mission ) as taking place shortly after the events of . The " Enterprise Log 3 " collection from Golden Press lists her maiden name as " Amanda Druce " , daughter of " Melvin Druce " , an interstellar trader - explorer , and her birthplace as " New Chicago " . The TOS novel " " cites Amanda Grayson as being a descendant of Aaron Stempel , a lead character on the real - world television series " Here Come the Brides " . On that show , the character of Aaron Stempel was played by Mark Lenard , the actor who played Sarek in " Star Trek " . The novel reveals her full name to be Amanda Stemple Grayson .