I think it would have been more palpable if the back story included a prehistory of how humankind had derailed its own progress with genetic enhancements that backfired in subsequent generations that lead up to the one that relies on surrogates. The story could then be explained as taking place 300 years from now, but the reason the Surrogate World being featured looks like the early 21st Century is because it was at this time that humans had their "last hurrah" as regular people with everyday problems before the onslaught of revolutionary genetic engineering.