About
More About In/Fertility in the City
In/Fertility in the City is a movement borne of the need for radical change: a complete culture shift in all workplaces that better supports the millions of men and women around the world who are struggling with infertility whilst navigating professional careers.
All too often their struggle is made even tougher when organisations have little to no understanding of how to support their staff on these difficult journeys.
Natalie, Emma and Somaya have learnt first-hand just how isolating, difficult, and stressful it can be to undergo fertility struggles in a high-pressure, high-performance, professional environment.
Their combined fertility experiences include primary and secondary infertility, recurrent fertility treatment failure, recurrent pregnancy loss, missed miscarriage, ectopic pregnancy, emergency surgery and subsequent near-fatal complications, all whilst working as City professionals with few, if any, of their work colleagues knowing of, much less understanding, what this meant for them personally and professionally.
As self-proclaimed fertility warriors, they wanted to open up the conversation around fertility issues in the workplace.
They wanted to better support professionals going through fertility challenges and family planning, as well as help organisations to better understand what they are and what they are not doing to support and respond to their employees.
The podcast focuses on the raw and real trials and tribulations of navigating infertility, baby loss and different paths to parenthood alongside demanding and stressful professional careers. The podcast is for both men and women, for heterosexual couples and the LGBTQ+ community, and for those exploring solo-parenting. It is for those who have experienced these issues, and for those who have not. It is for those wanting to better understand how to support colleagues, employees, friends, and family.
In each episode, guests will share their experiences and insights with brutal honesty in the hope that the listener will learn, feel supported and be inspired to take positive action for themselves and for others.
You’ll hear stories of devastation and defeat but also of faith, fearlessness, and success. You’ll hear about how men and women took control of their careers and fertility struggles once they learnt how to take personal responsibility for their journeys after becoming better advocates for themselves.
You’ll learn what organisations across the corporate world are doing to listen, respond, and better resource those struggling with fertility challenges, and you’ll hear what measures individuals and organisations have put in place to support fertility preservation.
Leaving no stone unturned, these fearless and authentic fertility warriors bring you the first of its kind: a podcast dedicated to professionals around the world managing in/fertility at work.
We are thrilled to have won the Age & Life Stage Initiative of the Year at the Women and Diversity in Law Awards 2023!
Meet Your Hosts
Somaya Ouazzani
Natalie Sutherland
Natalie Sutherland
Somaya is the founder and CEO of an executive search firm, Mimoza Fleur; a search firm in the city of London dedicated to partner and senior-level searches within the legal industry. Prior to founding Mimoza Fleur, Somaya worked as a divorce lawyer representing clients around the world in their divorce, financial and children matters. She
Somaya is the founder and CEO of an executive search firm, Mimoza Fleur; a search firm in the city of London dedicated to partner and senior-level searches within the legal industry. Prior to founding Mimoza Fleur, Somaya worked as a divorce lawyer representing clients around the world in their divorce, financial and children matters. She was invited to take up a teaching fellowship at UCL which she did from 2010-2012.
As one of very few female-owned and managed legal search firms in London, Mimoza Fleur and the work that Somaya does has always had a sharp focus on diversity and inclusivity. She has been committed since the firm’s founding to raising greater awareness of gender parity at partner level and the impact that family planning and infertility can have on a senior career. Mimoza Fleur is the only legal search firm in London to have cast a spotlight on infertility in the city and the shortcomings of law firms in this regard and as a result, and through the work that In/Fertility in the City is doing, significant progress is being made.
Natalie Sutherland
Natalie Sutherland
Natalie Sutherland
Natalie Sutherland is a specialist family law solicitor and Partner at Burgess Mee Family Law, a boutique family law firm where she spearheads the firm’s Modern Family department dealing with surrogacy and assisted reproductive technology law. Natalie is passionate about helping clients create their families and whilst she is a mother to
Natalie Sutherland is a specialist family law solicitor and Partner at Burgess Mee Family Law, a boutique family law firm where she spearheads the firm’s Modern Family department dealing with surrogacy and assisted reproductive technology law. Natalie is passionate about helping clients create their families and whilst she is a mother to a six-year-old daughter, has also suffered pregnancy loss and secondary infertility.
Natalie’s interest in the fertility world has led her to become a Trustee of the charity, Progress Educational Trust, which advances public understanding of science, law and ethics in the fields of human genetics, assisted reproduction, embryology and stem cell research.
Natalie is also Burgess Mee’s Fertility Officer, where she supports its employees on their fertility journeys, supporting them to navigate work whilst undergoing fertility investigation or treatment.
Emma Menzies
Natalie Sutherland
Emma Menzies
Emma is a Fertility at Work Coach and Consultant. She helps individuals manage the impact of fertility challenges on their career and working life, and she helps organisations manage fertility in their workplace.
After years of struggle, Emma successfully managed the impact of fertility challenges on her own career and working life. In the
Emma is a Fertility at Work Coach and Consultant. She helps individuals manage the impact of fertility challenges on their career and working life, and she helps organisations manage fertility in their workplace.
After years of struggle, Emma successfully managed the impact of fertility challenges on her own career and working life. In the process, she qualified as a Coach and established her business, Ready Steady Coach. She now combines her personal and professional experience to make it possible for others to receive the fertility at work support that, for her, had been lacking.
Prior to this, Emma was an Employment Lawyer working for Eversheds Sutherland LLP, (a multinational law firm), followed by Marks and Spencer plc, (a British multinational retailer). She spent over 13 years with these organisations, providing employment law advice on a range of career and workplace matters, including matters relevant to fertility at work.
Consequently, when it comes to fertility at work, Emma is in the unique position of having a deep understanding and appreciation of the needs, challenges, rights and obligations of individuals and their organisations, and the passion and skills to facilitate sustainable change.