Intimate Strangers: Commercial Surrogacy in Russia and Ukraine and the Making of Truth

Intimate Strangers: Commercial Surrogacy in Russia and Ukraine and the Making of Truth
ISBN-10
1501769936
ISBN-13
9781501769931
Series
Intimate Strangers
Category
History
Pages
304
Language
English
Published
2023-07-15
Publisher
Cornell University Press
Author
Veronika Siegl

Description

Zooming in on commercial surrogacy in Russia and Ukraine, Intimate Strangers addresses market expansion into the intimate spheres of life that play out on women's bodies as mothers and workers. Veronika Siegl follows the inner workings of a surrogacy market marked by secrecy, distrust, and anonymous business relationships. She explores intended mothers' anxious struggles for a child in light of stigmatized infertility and the aggressive biopolitics of motherhood; the uncertain but pragmatic pathways in and out of fertility clinics as surrogates navigate harsh economic realities and resist being objectified or morally judged; and the powerful role of agents and doctors who have found a profitable niche in nurturing and facilitating other people's existential hopes. Intimate Strangers discusses these issues against the backdrop of ultra-conservatism and moral governance in Russia, the rising international popularity of the Ukrainian surrogacy market, and the pervasiveness of neo-liberal ideologies and individualized notions of reproductive freedom.

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