Natalie Sutherland

Natalie practices in all areas of family law but specialises in modern family law where she advises in respect of international and domestic surrogacy arrangements, child arrangements where a surrogacy arrangement has broken down, assisted reproductive technology law, embryo disposition, posthumous conception, donor conception, platonic co-parenting, transgender parenting issues and adoption.

Her private children law practice includes international and domestic leave to remove disputes, cases involving allegations of controlling and coercive behaviour and narcissistic personality disorder, cases involving allegations of alienating behaviours and vaccination disputes relating to children, including the Covid vaccination.

Natalie’s divorce and financial remedy practice includes cases involving domicile and jurisdiction disputes, cohabitation claims for unmarried couples, Schedule 1 applications for children, pre and post nuptial agreements, variation of maintenance applications and freezing injunctions.

Natalie started out her career at boutique family law firm, Levison Meltzer Pigott, where she spent 9 years working directly with one of the founders dealing with high and ultra high net worth clients and matters with complex legal issues.

Prior to joining Burgess Mee, Natalie was Head of the Family Department at a firm in the City which is well known for their work in surrogacy and fertility law as well as LGBTQ+ issues.

Natalie is a member of Resolution and is Co-Chair of the Children Committee. Natalie is also a member of the British Fertility Society and the American Bar Association.

Natalie is a member of the Board of Trustees of Progress Educational Trust, a charity which advances public understanding of science, law and ethics in the field of human genetics, assisted reproduction, embryology and stem cell research.

Natalie regularly writes for legal publications such as Solicitors Journal, Today’s Family Lawyer, LexisNexis, International Adviser, Family Law Journal, The Divorce Magazine and Law.com International.

Natalie has also written for The Times and has featured in Mail on Sunday, CityAM, The Telegraph, The Financial Times, The New Statesman, The Law Society Gazette, New Law Journal, Elle, Women’s Health, and Grazia.

Natalie is married with a daughter and is very proud of her Welsh roots.

Natalie is passionate about opening up the conversation around fertility issues in the workplace. This passion led her to co-founding In/Fertility in the City, a movement born of the need for radical change: a complete culture shift in all workplaces to better support men and women who are struggling with infertility whilst navigating professional careers.

Natalie co-organised and co-chaired four in-person In/Fertility in the City panel events in December 2020, July 2021, October 2023 and June 2024. Natalie also co-hosts a podcast of the same name, dedicated to exploring the complex relationship between in/fertility and work and how to manage this effectively.

Natalie is also passionate about law reform and is a founding member of the Parliamentary Fertility Forum Group working to change the law in this area, including employment rights for those undergoing fertility treatment and access to fertility treatment for the LGBTQ community.

Outside of work Natalie enjoys being a mum, travelling, listening to podcasts, riding her Peloton and walking her dog Betty.