How do women use courts within the context of paternity lawsuits‎?‎ This study analyzes the challenges that the formal legal approach to empowering women faces once it is translated into everyday socio‎-legal experiences and court repertoires‎.‎ It also seeks to trace the pathologies inherent in personal status law reform and normal legal practices in Egypt‎,‎ attesting to the limitations of law as an agent of social change in the private domain of the family‎.‎ It mainly sheds light on the difficulties of separating formal legal rules from informal social practices‎.‎ It also explores the problem of paternity claims in Egypt‎.‎ Adding to growing literature on the use of legal mobilization to advance gender equity‎,‎ this study offers insights on the often‎-neglected role of social norms in court experiences‎,‎ often leading to unexpected consequences that sometimes defy the intended goals behind policies and legislation‎.‎