The discursive concept “surrogate motherhood” in Russian media

The article aims to explore the topic of surrogate motherhood in Russian media discourse and identify its key values. The research material is contemporary Russian media texts and letters received by the NGO Russian Association of Human Reproduction (RAHR). The research methodology is rooted in the constructivist approach and a theoretical study into the notion of discursive concept. The leading method of material analysis is critical discourse analysis combined with several specific linguistic methods. The discursive concept “surrogate motherhood” is represented in all segments of Russian media. The concept is structured by the main role positions of the surrogate motherhood participants: childless parents, doctor, gestational mother, child. The role positions are described according to the media format. Letters received by RAHR contribute to the following conclusions: the concept “surrogate motherhood” is structured by the discursive practices of the self-description of the childless women’s (spouses’) role position with the emphasis on “inferiority complex due to the absence of children”, ways of describing the role position of the gestational mother as a reward-based voluntary assistant, a role position of the child as a desirable object for family happiness. The news segment describes the concept’s role positions within the framework of intentional or unintentional crime. Journalists tend to give the floor to law enforcement agencies as well as to suspects and their lawyers. In leisure media, the parents’ role position is represented by celebrities identified as “happy”; an alternative is a role position of a “single father” having a close emotional connection with children that contradicts the conservative viewpoint of the family. In analytical publications, the role position of a “gestational mother” is represented in the first person; it is revealed only through positive experience. The role position of a “child” actualizes three different interpretations of the axiological meaning. An ethical problem of stigmatization of children born with the help of ART has been found in the leisure media. A comparison of letters received by RAHR and journalist texts showed that the role position of a “child” as a desirable object for family happiness is consistent with the idea of solving the demographic problem of the state. The discursive concept “surrogate motherhood” is included into public space, but there is no value polarization in its understanding. The authors declare no conflicts of interests.

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