A Tale of Two Surrogates (2025)

Author Interview

Abstract

In A Tale of Two Surrogates (2025), sociologist Elly Teman and anthropologist Zsuzsa Berend bring years of ethnographic research to life through the vivid and accessible medium of comics. The graphic novel delves into the complex emotional, medical, legal, and ethical terrain of assisted reproduction, following women whose lives intertwine through their experiences as gestational surrogates.

Blending scholarly insight with compelling visual storytelling, A Tale of Two Surrogates bridges the worlds of academia and popular narrative, offering both a window into the lived realities of surrogacy and a model for how comics can communicate social science.

Comics librarian and 2022 Eisner Award judge Jameson Rohrer sat down with Teman and Berend to discuss how this groundbreaking project came to be, what inspired their turn toward the graphic narrative format, and how visual storytelling can reshape the way we teach and understand ethnography.