One of the most central aspects of Zsuzsa's data is that US surrogates who she studied on the Surrogate Mother's Online forum created an online community in which they educated and supported one another throughout the process. We knew that we wanted each of the surrogates to go through their journey with the presence of their individual family but we also felt that it would not be an authentic portrayal of the data if we did not have a vehicle for showing the surrogates interactions with other surrogates. We also wanted to have a way to show the different voices that make up the data.
The idea for the Greek chorus came from several lines of reasoning: we liked how the idea reflected the overall theme of the hero's journey, and how the classic Greek chorus would accompany the heroine, echoing her thoughts and actions throughout. We also liked the idea that Jenn is speaking to a group of women who she is imagining in perhaps a romanticized way as participants in this act of creation, sort of like Greek goddesses. Finally, we thought this would be a good way to mark the surrogacy group that Jenn interacts with as existing in a different realm of experience: she interacts with her family, the intended parents, and medical professionals in her everyday life, but her interactions with the Greek chorus are visually differentiated.
The Greek Chorus appears more frequently and consistently in Jenn's story than the surrogacy group that accompanies Dana through her journey. This is both a reflection of our data—the SMO surrogates were far more immersed in the virtual meeting ground than the Israeli surrogates were—but also because each character has different support networks. Dana's sister and her best friend, as well as the intended mother, Sarah, play a more involved role in her journey than her surrogacy support group, whereas for Jenn it is mainly her husband, Mike, and the online group that accompany her throughout. Moreover, unlike the Greek chorus, Dana's surrogacy support group is illustrated as competitors in a competitive sport competition. This depiction is meant to evoke the elements of Israeli surrogacy that are more similar to a competition: surrogates are selected after medical and psychological testing and have to pass a committee; they narrate their stories as surmounting an obstacle course and are aware that many do not pass.