Ideology of simulation: The material-semiotic production of the surrogate in the web worldings of Russian surrogacy

Abstract

This article examines the webpages of Russian reproductive clinics and surrogacy agencies that offer surrogacy to foreign clients. Theoretically and analytically, the article is anchored in the works of Donna Haraway and Jean Baudrillard. While the websites are conceptualised as worldings, context-dependent ensembles of practices and possibilities articulated via images and text, the main focus of the analysis is the material-semiotic production of the surrogate in these worldings. The analysis reveals material-semiotic eugenics that render the surrogate a simulacrum, thus challenging her status as human.