Mother London's Keeley Dwight on Infertility, Donor Conception and Redefining What Makes a Family
There is a particular kind of grief that society still struggles to acknowledge. It is rarely visible and there are few obvious ways for colleagues to know that, alongside the deadlines, meetings and creative pitches, someone may also be carrying years of hope, heartbreak and a learned resilience.
Perhaps that's why Keeley Dwight's conversation in the latest episode of The emPOWER Breakfast Podcast is so important.
In episode four of season three, founder and host Athene Parker sat down with Mother London production director Keeley Dwight for a conversation that unfolds into something much bigger than fertility. Because this isn't really a conversation about IVF. It's a conversation about womanhood. About hope and the grief that goes hand in hand with the emotional lives people carry behind successful careers.
Keeley has built an exceptional career across some of advertising's most respected agencies before finding her home at Mother London. From the outside, it is a career many would aspire to. A decade ago however, running alongside it, was another life entirely.
Over many years, Keeley and her husband experienced infertility, multiple rounds of IVF, miscarriage and ultimately the extraordinary generosity of egg donor conception, leading to the birth of their son, Freddie.
As Keeley's story unfolds, what becomes clear is that fertility treatment isn't simply a medical process. It becomes a way of living. Appointments dictate diaries. Hormones dictate emotions. Hope becomes something that rises and falls according to phone calls, blood tests and dates circled in calendars.
Yet work responsibilities carry on exactly as before. Emails still need answering. Campaigns still need delivering. Life still requires Life-ing!One of the most compelling parts of the conversation explores the practical reality of this experience, so its an important listen if you are leading teams.
IVF is still widely treated as an elective procedure, despite its enormous physical and emotional demands. Many organisations still have no meaningful policies in place. Few managers know how to support someone going through treatment. Conversations remain private because the subject itself still feels private.
Perhaps that is why Keeley's willingness to tell her story matters so much. When she set out on her journey she searched for others sharing about this lived experience and discovered that really there was very little out there, so she began to share her own journey and slowly built a community of supportive and courageous people on the path to parenthood.
When Keeley spoke at the live emPOWER Breakfast event in May, the room deep sighed as a letting go.
It was another beautifully interactive Q&A and the questions became stories. The remarkable safe space that is emPOWER worked it's magic yet again as women who had never intended to speak found themselves talking about experiences they had carried for years. Brilliantly, younger attendees described how much they had learned simply by listening to Keeley and audience members talking about their lived experience. Sharing that they had never realised what fertility treatment actually involved or the impacts of hormonal decline that often begins between 30 and 35 - vastly younger than we imagine.
So if you didn't make it to the event, this is your opportunity to experience a level of honesty and sharing you might not be familiar with in a work related environment. It's what makes The emPOWER Breakfast so special.
Join us for this podcast conversation as we explore our guest's life through music and memory. Listeners travel back through Keeley's childhood, the moments that shaped her and the memories that continue to define her. Music is more than a soundtrack. It becomes a doorway into the emotional landscape behind the achievements listed on a CV.
This is a story about redefining what family means, and about recognising that some of the most important leadership we can show is creating workplaces where people no longer feel they have to carry life's biggest challenges in silence.
If you are exploring the possibility of donor conception, Keeley is hosting her annual Donor Conception Picnic in partnership with Paths to Parent Hub, and it will be taking place on the 6th September. Created as a welcoming space for donor-conceived families, intended parents, donors and those exploring or navigating donor conception, the picnic is a beautiful example of the community Keeley has helped to foster. One built on openness, connection and the reassurance that no one has to walk this path alone...head to the Espresso Bar in Regents Park and look for a large group of friendly people! You are definitely not alone!
🎧 Listen to the latest episode of The emPOWER Breakfast Podcast with Keeley Dwight, and explore her Spotify playlist.
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