Dr. Blumenthal finds out that she cannot conceive as her fallopian tubes are blocked due to a case of TB, which she feels is extremely rare in current times.

A suicide (suggested to be a murder) of a fellow woman patient in the clinic also adds to their curiosity.

From him, she learns about a practice where pairs of Chinese citizens who were smuggled into Australia work in the clinic regularly[clarification needed].

Tristan tells Marissa that due to the paper he wrote, the FCA has taken retaliatory steps against him, like branding him with drugs and killing his wife two years ago.

Tristan suggests that there had to be a drug trafficking involved since the illegal Chinese workers were transported from the Republic of China and moved into Australia through Hong Kong.

Marissa discovers that the rural doctors are trained to sterilize women as mitigation by the government to control the population.

In the end, Marissa marries Tristan and the couple plans to adopt a Chinese baby from Hong Kong.