International Women’s Day Reflections: Gratitude, Progress, and the Women Walking Beside Us

International Mother’s Day was a day filled with gratitude for me this year.

This year, International Women’s Day felt different for me.

Not louder.
Not more celebratory.

Just… deeper.

After travelling to Sydney to speak on the Seeking Sperm panel at the All About Women Festival at the Sydney Opera House, surrounded by conversations about modern motherhood and the evolving ways women are building families, I came home feeling something I hadn’t expected.

Gratitude.

Not just for the opportunities in front of us today — but for the generations of women who made them possible.

The freedom many women never had

It’s easy to forget how recent many of our freedoms actually are.

The ability to build financial independence.
To make decisions about motherhood.
To pursue parenthood outside traditional relationship structures.
To design lives aligned with our own timelines.

These choices didn’t appear overnight.

They exist because women before us challenged expectations, pushed for legal change, and created space for future generations to live with more autonomy than they themselves were allowed.

International Women’s Day felt like a moment to acknowledge that inheritance.

Because many of the decisions women are making today — including solo motherhood — are only possible because of that collective courage.

The privilege of where we live

Living in Australia, we are also incredibly fortunate.

Compared with many parts of the world, women here face fewer structural barriers to pursuing motherhood independently.

Medical pathways exist.
Legal frameworks allow donor conception.
Support systems — while imperfect — are accessible.

This level of choice is not universal.

And recognising that privilege doesn’t diminish the challenges women still face — it simply invites gratitude alongside progress.

Progress — and the work still to be done

International Women’s Day also reminded me that equality is still evolving.

While families today look more diverse than ever, many systems were designed around older assumptions.

One example is the Family Law Act, which still largely operates on the premise that a child has two legal parents.

Important updates have been made to better recognise same-sex couples — a meaningful and necessary step forward — but the legislation still does not fully reflect or protect solo parents by choice using donor conception, where there is intentionally no second parent.

So while we celebrate how far we’ve come, there is still important work ahead to ensure modern families are recognised equally under the law.

Progress and advocacy can exist alongside gratitude.

Both are part of moving forward.

The sisterhood I didn’t expect

What stayed with me most from the weekend wasn’t standing on stage.

It was connection.

Meeting women I had previously interviewed on the podcast or only ever known through screens. Sitting together in real life. Sharing meals, stories, and laughter that required very little explanation.

There was an ease in those conversations that felt rare.

No judgement.
No comparison.
No need to justify choices.

Just understanding.

The shared journey of solo motherhood creates a kind of sisterhood that is difficult to describe until you experience it — one built not on sameness, but on empathy.

Friendship as an unexpected gift of this path

One of the most unexpected outcomes of this journey for me has always been friendship.

Through Solo Mum Society and the podcast, I now have connections across Australia — women whose paths I may never have crossed if life had unfolded differently.

Women who are thoughtful, resilient, and deeply inspiring.

Meeting them in Sydney reminded me how special it is that this community extends far beyond geography.

And these friendships don’t just support us as mothers.

They shape the world our children grow up in.

What our children are learning from us

Our children are watching more than we realise.

They are growing up surrounded by women who support each other, pursue their dreams, and make intentional decisions about their lives.

For our daughters, this expands what feels possible.

For our sons, it shapes how they understand and respect women.

When children see empowered women building meaningful lives — individually and collectively — equality becomes normal rather than aspirational.

And perhaps one of the greatest gifts of this community is that it normalises our families for our children.

They see belonging.

They see connection.

They see that families can look different and still feel entirely whole.

Gratitude for the women beside us

I also left the weekend feeling immense respect for the women who shared their voices, stories, and perspectives throughout the festival.

Each journey was different.

Each path uniquely personal.

Yet connected by a shared belief that women deserve agency over their lives and futures.

There was no hierarchy in those rooms — only mutual respect.

And that felt powerful in a quiet, grounding way.

What International Women’s Day means to me now

International Women’s Day now feels less about celebration alone and more about recognition.

Recognition of progress.
Recognition of privilege.
Recognition of the work still ahead.
And recognition of the women walking beside us.

We are living in a moment shaped by generations before us, supported by communities forming around us, and watched closely by the next generation growing up within it.

Final thought

To the women who came before us — thank you.

To the women building communities today — I’m grateful for you.

And to the children watching us create lives on our own terms — may they grow up believing possibility is simply part of the world they inherit.