Natalie Sutherland
Partner
Natalie is a Partner at The International Family Law Group LLP and one of the UK’s leading specialists in modern family law. She advises clients on UK and international surrogacy arrangements, legal parentage, known donor and platonic co-parenting agreements, embryo storage, posthumous conception, and family building for LGBTQ+ and solo parents. She is also experienced in complex international divorce, financial remedy proceedings, children disputes and jurisdictional matters.
Natalie’s experience includes acting in leading cases such as SA v FA [2022], Re X (Catastrophic Injury: Collection and Storage of Sperm) [2022] and Re Z (Surrogacy: Step-parent Adoption) [2024}. She is a Band 1-ranked practitioner for Children Law in Chambers & Partners, recognised as a Next Generation Partner in Legal 500, and named in the Citywealth Top 75 Family Lawyers 2025. In 2023, she won Woman of the Year at the Women and Diversity in Law Awards and was Highly Commended as Partner of the Year at the LexisNexis Family Law Awards 2022.
Before joining IFLG, Natalie worked for nearly a decade on high-net-worth cases at a specialist London firm, later heading the Family Department at a City firm with a leading fertility law practice before later establishing her own Modern Family Department at another firm.
Alongside her casework, Natalie is a prominent advocate for fertility awareness and reform. She co-founded In/Fertility in the City, an award-winning podcast and event series exploring infertility and professional life, and is a founder member of the Workplace Fertility Campaign Group, advocating for fertility law reform for employees. She is also Fertility Officer at IFLG, a role she pioneered to support colleagues and clients navigating treatment alongside professional life.
Natalie is Co-Chair of Resolution’s Children Committee, a Trustee of the Progress Educational Trust, and a member of the British Fertility Society and the American Bar Association. She regularly speaks at national and international conferences, including The Hague and Boston, and writes widely for specialist, national and international publications alike.
- UK and international surrogacy arrangements
- Child arrangements following surrogacy breakdown
- Legal parentage and fertility law
- Known donor and platonic co-parenting agreements
- Posthumous conception
- LGBTQ+ and solo parent family building
- Declarations of parentage
- Private law children matters
- Relocation (leave to remove) applications
- Allegations of coercive control, narcissistic behaviour or parental alienation
- Domestic abuse and Family Law Act applications
- Vaccination disputes involving children
- Divorce and civil partnership dissolution
Chambers & Partners
2025
- ‘Natalie is a first class lawyer. Her expertise, knowledge and dedication are second to none. We trust her and feel that she always has our best interests at heart’.
- ‘Natalie is hugely passionate and knowledgeable about surrogacy law and she always goes the extra mile for her clients’.
- ‘Natalie's expertise in international surrogacy law is unmatched. Her exceptional proficiency is well respected in the industry, as is her unwavering commitment to clients’.
- ‘Natalie is hugely knowledgeable about international cases and always goes the extra mile for her clients’.
- ‘Natalie is the guru on modern families, she is amazing’.
2024
- ‘Natalie was a blessing to my family. Her fantastic performance, due to her knowledge and thorough preparation, changed our lives’
- ‘She is an assured presence for clients in the most complex circumstances’
Legal 500:
2025
- 'Natalie Sutherland is a fantastic family lawyer. Brilliant with clients and opponents alike. She just gets cases right from the start, giving clients the advice they need from the off.'
2024
- ‘Natalie Sutherland’s knowledge of surrogacy law is truly unrivalled. This is not just regarding the legal side of surrogacy in the UK, but as well as the practical and emotional aspects of it. Natalie made us feel that she listened, understood where we wanted to be, and knew how we could get there’
- ‘Natalie Sutherland has been doing great work with her In/Fertility in the City campaign’
2023
- Natalie Sutherland is a calm and experienced practical solicitor who has a proactive problem solving attitude’
- ‘Natalie Sutherland is a stand-out individual. She has excellent knowledge of the law surrounding modern families and fertility issues. She started a ‘Modern Families Pod’, which involves a number of barristers and solicitors (from various chambers and firms), who have expertise in the area. As a member of the pod myself, I can vouch for Natalie’s knowledge and tenacity in this complex area’
2022
- Natalie Sutherland – knowledgeable, proficient and an excellent lawyer’
- ‘The lawyers cover the breadth of privately funded work and have an interest in surrogacy marked by the addition of Natalie Sutherland to their ranks’
- ‘We were extremely satisfied with the service we received and have no hesitation in recommending the firm and people that we dealt with, in particular Natalie Sutherland. Natalie was the solicitor in charge of our case which was a very complicated and emotional surrogacy dispute that quickly moved to the High Court. She and her team were phenomenal in handling our case. She knew surrogacy law inside/out and worked tirelessly to get the outcome that we needed. This included late nights and weekends, writing statements and instructing extremely experienced barristers which were needed for our case. We felt huge confidence in her expertise and were always provided information or replied to promptly. The professionalism but also empathy that we received was second to none’.
- Woman of the Year – Women and Diversity in Law Awards 2023
- Highly Commended – Partner of the Year, LexisNexis Family Law Awards 2022
- Ranked Band 1 in Chambers & Partners for Children Law
- Listed as a Next Generation Partner in Legal 500
- Named in the Citywealth Top 75 Family Lawyers 2025 and Top 25 in 2024
- Recognised in the Doyles Guide as a Recommended Children Lawyer (2024 & 2025)
- Selected for the inaugural Themis20 by WeAreTheCity and Norton Rose Fulbright in 2024
- Age & Life Stage Initiative of the Year (2023) award for In/Fertility in the City
- Mental Health & Wellbeing Initiative of the Year (2024) award for In/Fertility in the City
- Innovation in Marketing and Social Strategy – British Family Law Awards (2024) award for In/Fertility in the City
- Co-Chair, Resolution Children Committee
- Trustee, Progress Educational Trust
- Member, British Fertility Society (BFS) – Law, Practice & Ethics SIG
- Member, American Bar Association (ABA) – Family Law Section & ART Committee
- Member, NIHR Stakeholder Group (University of Surrey menopause/pregnancy workplace study)
- Re Z (Surrogacy: Step-parent Adoption) [2024] EWFC 20
- Re X (Catastrophic Injury: Collection and Storage of Sperm) [2022] EWCOP 48
- SA v FA [2022] EWFC 115
- P v Q [2022] EWFC B9
- G v G [2012] EWHC 167 (Fam)
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