Sociocultural Portrayal of Donation in Modern Russia: a View From the Outside and From the Inside

The article attempts a sociocultural portrayal of donation as a multifaceted phenomenon, which is characterized from two sides: a view of the object from the outside — from the reflection of donation in the media, and a view from the inside — from understanding the donors’ own experience. The basis for the study was a corpus sample of material from federal, regional and online media, as well as the texts of 80 interviews of a psychologist with female oocyte donors and surrogate mothers. The expansion of the donor sphere from voluntary blood donation to the transfer of reproductive cells and the emergence of surrogacy has created an ambiguous image of donors in the media. A blood donor has a whole set of moral and volitional personality characteristics: dedication, compassion, nobility and heroism. Reproductive donation is more often discussed in the media in terms of material benefits and commercialization; the image of the donor loses its heroic aura, acquiring a negative modality. An analysis of the narratives of oocyte donors and surrogate mothers has shown the axiological ambivalence of women: on the one hand, they are characterized by a desire to help and dedication, on the other hand, the principle of paid donation is important for them. The taboo nature of the topic of reproductive donation, and the ambiguity of legal and ethical issues in this area prevents the media from covering the problem in a multifaceted and broad manner.