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

Siegl, Veronika (2023). Intimate Strangers: Commercial Surrogacy in Russia and Ukraine and the Making of Truth. Ithaca [New York]: Cornell University Press 10.1515/9781501769931

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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.

Item Type:

Book (Monograph)

Division/Institute:

08 Faculty of Science > Institute of Geography > Human Geography > Unit Cultural Geography
06 Faculty of Humanities > Department of Art and Cultural Studies > Institute of Social Anthropology
09 Interdisciplinary Units > Interdisciplinary Centre for Gender Studies (ICFG)
08 Faculty of Science > Institute of Geography > Human Geography
08 Faculty of Science > Institute of Geography

Graduate School:

Graduate School Gender Studies

UniBE Contributor:

Siegl, Veronika

ISBN:

9781501769931

Publisher:

Cornell University Press

Funders:

[4] Swiss National Science Foundation

Language:

English

Submitter:

Lukas Batschelet

Date Deposited:

22 Sep 2023 13:16

Last Modified:

30 Apr 2024 09:36

Publisher DOI:

10.1515/9781501769931

Related URLs:

BORIS DOI:

10.48350/186475

URI:

https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/186475

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