What International Women’s Day means to me

International Women’s Day is deeply personal to me.

It’s a day that celebrates how far women have come, but it also reminds me how complicated progress can be.

For most of my life, I believed the same story many women are told:
Work hard. Build your career. Find the right partner. And when the time is right, motherhood will naturally fall into place.

But life doesn’t always follow the fairy tale script.

My journey to motherhood took ten years.

I remember sitting in a fertility doctor’s office at 40, realizing the hard truth that my professional and biological timelines were moving at very different speeds.

That realization forced me to rethink what equality for women truly means.

The United States celebrated its first National Women’s Day in 1909, while similar movements were emerging across Europe.

Women Workers Strike 1912

In 1975, the United Nations formally established International Women’s Day to both celebrate women’s achievements and highlight the inequalities that still remain.

Today, one of the most complicated frontiers of that progress is motherhood.

Women have more opportunities than ever before. We are building careers, leading companies, and redefining what success looks like.

But those opportunities have also blurred roles that once seemed clearly defined. That’s not a bad thing—it just requires more intentionality.

Too many women still rely on a comforting cultural myth: that love, career, family, and motherhood will all magically align at the perfect time.

For many women—including me—our happily-ever-afters don’t come that easily.

In 2026, true equality for women means planning our path to motherhood with the same sense of purpose we bring to our careers.

That requires three things:

𝗘𝗱𝘂𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻
Understanding fertility timelines and the factors that can impact our ability to have children.

𝗘𝗺𝗽𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁
Letting go of outdated narratives when they no longer serve us and exploring diverse paths to motherhood.

𝗔𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗰𝘆
Taking ownership of our family-building decisions and unapologetically blazing new trails when necessary.

This is the work we do at Cheri’s Choice—helping women navigate their path to motherhood with clarity, confidence, and choice.

I'm humbled that Conglomerate Magazine chose to recognize my mission as the feature of their International Women's Day issue.

There is still so much work to do. Fertility education is rarely taught to women in early adulthood, and many still feel trapped by traditional narratives about what motherhood is supposed to look like.

But hearts and minds are changing.

And perhaps the next chapter of women’s equality isn’t just about breaking glass ceilings. It’s about giving women knowledge and support to choose their unique path to motherhood

That’s progress worth celebrating!