International Women’s Day Series: Championing alternative paths to parenthood

Amy Lane, Private Client Partner, is a trusted lawyer for women navigating some of life’s most complex moments. From informal conversations about career pressures to deeply personal discussions around fertility and alternative paths to parenthood, she has helped create spaces where women feel safe to speak honestly. 

Amy runs a ‘Paths to Parenthood’ campaign, where she uses her voice to challenge outdated ideas of what is considered “normal” and to support those facing adversity, loss or uncertainty on their journey to becoming parents through unorthodox means, using her legal knowledge and interpersonal skills to support families going through this process.  

Read what she had to say below: 

This year’s theme is Give to Gain. What does giving mean to you?  

For me, as a woman in business, it is helping others.  As a trainee, people were generous with their time, and that’s something that I have tried to do through my career.  Helping others is not always about the gain for business, but it’s important about the personal gain where you always feel better helping others, and they feel better for helping you.   

Why is it important to you have time to give back alongside your career? 

 It’s important to inspire the next generation to want to come into the law, which is one aspect.  The other main aspect for me is creating a space where women can support one another through their personal and professional lives.  I recently had a professional contact reach out to me to discuss her fertility struggles and we sat for half an hour talking it through, and I felt honoured she felt comfortable talking to me about something so personal, despite us being professional connections.   

What are the causes important to you?  

 The paths to parenthood campaign is really important to me.  There are many people in my life who have lost children, been unable to have them and are still struggling with finding their route to parenthood.  It was when one of my friends reached out to me because of adversity she was facing by her family for wanting a child and using a sperm donor that I decided to put a lot of energy into creating a space of no judgement and all the information in one place.  Her family told her she wasn’t ‘normal’ and because of that, she’s fearful to pick up her path to parenthood again, which makes me incredibly sad for her.  In today’s world, there is no normal, and we should all be embracing that.   

Is there a campaign you are most proud of? 

 My paths to parenthood campaign is an active one, and one I am immensely proud of.  To use my voice to champion others to not only share their stories but to normalise different paths to parenthood in the eyes of society and the future generation is really important to me.  

How does gunnercooke support you/ what does it mean to you to be part of a firm with a wider purpose? 

 For me, joining gunnercooke was about being a part of an organisation where I can channel my entrepreneurial skills which would otherwise be unused in most traditional practices.  I have met some other amazing women as part of my journey to-date, one of which who has already become a close friend, and I think that’s the key with gunnercooke,  everyone has more time, because they understand that an investment in a relationship today could help you tomorrow.  

You can read more about Amy’s vital work on her website profile here, where she has written many articles explaining the different paths to parenthood.