TheoristSellers

Abstract

It’s 7:30 a.m., 9 September 2002. The surgery room where oocyte extractions are performed is on the top floor of a purpose-built oocyte extraction clinic, in a converted house, near the centre of Bucharest. It is in an inconspicuous building that appeared, from the outside, to be a small three-storey house. Externally, it blends in well with the rundown neighbourhood. It appeared to have been recently renovated; a clean and well-equipped building. At the entrance level is a secured, locked gate, guarded 24 hours a day by a uniformed man. Opposite is a derelict house, with a front yard populated by people, domestic objects and a dog. The main floor has a large waiting room, with about ten chairs. These face a doctor’s office/kitchen, where medicine is kept in a refrigerator together with food. Next to this is a nurse’s office. Behind the waiting room is an enclosed, paved yard. On the first floor are three bedrooms, one belonging to Dr Shmuel,¹ another to Sasha (the embryologist from Israel) and an extra room in which staff occasionally rest or sleep. Adjacent to one of the bedrooms is a tiled, grey bathroom and shower. The next floor above is dedicated to the surgery room, recovery room, lab and pre-surgery shower room.