Dear Liz,
I am 32 and an attorney in a large, big-city firm. Personally, my husband and I are very ready to start a family and looking forward to it. Professionally, I very much fear that having kids could stall my career track or even eliminate the possibility of me reaching partner level. Any advice?
Sandra

 
Dear Sandra,
The trouble with a bromide like "a woman with kids won't make partner" is that, once established, it doesn't often get addressed or questioned. My advice is to talk with your manager and let him or her know that you are planning on kids and also planning on advancing with the firm (strike that - you plan on advancing with SOME law firm - your current one if they are smart enough to manage you appropriately). You aren't asking for an opinion on whether or when to have kids, but you are asking for support on continuing your professional advancement. If you get a cold shoulder, at least you'll know the lay of the land. There are plenty of law-firm partners who are mothers. You can be one of them if you want to. There will be sacrifices, but that will be true even if you don't shoot for partner - if you don't practice law. Don't let a tired stereotype stand in your way. And by the way, why not post a message to the WorldWIT folks and connect with other lawyer-moms? You could start a support group.

Good luck and take care,
Liz Ryan
 
Every week Liz Ryan, founder of WorldWIT, will answer questions readers have about their career paths, jobs, and balancing work with their families. If you have a question you would like Liz to answer in a future issue of Thinking Aloud please write to laurenc@worldwit.org.