The Fertility Center — Local services in Grand Rapids Charter Township

Ultimately, my time spent receiving treatment with The Fertility Center was not a good experience.

Scheduling: Every time that I shared my availability, I was met with frustration from whoever was scheduling me. My wife and I don’t have difficult schedules, we both just don’t get a lot of time off from work to make these appointments, and I would explain that every time, asking for an early or late appointment to take the least amount of time off as possible. I was almost always offered midday appointments which I regularly expressed did not work for us. It would take 2-3 phone calls to just get an appointment scheduled. I would call and be told I would get a call back for scheduling eventually. I work a busy job and that just doesn’t work. It always felt like I was interrupting and inconveniencing them with the fact that I had a life outside of trying to get pregnant.

Interactions with Staff: My doctor was Dr. Bjorkman. I met with her twice over the course of my 9 or 10 appointments. She was minimally involved in my care and while she was kind when I met with her the first time, the second time she seemed annoyed that I had an appointment even though it was in the treatment plan she wrote up. I only had one good experience with a nurse. I wish I remembered her name because she was the one good piece for me. All other nurses and ultrasound techs were dismissive and just seemed pissed off that they had to deal with a patient. I always felt rushed and like I was inconveniencing them. When I received my IUI, I had never met the nurse before, she did not care that my body was responding in pain, and didn’t even acknowledge my wife in the room. When I received an ultrasound that showed my follicles had not responded to treatment, a nurse met with me for about 3 minutes after, had no empathy, and told me to just call when I get my cycle. I have PCOS and at that point had only had one cycle in a year. She did not even look at my treatment plan or know my situation, she just gave me a blanket statement. When my wife and I met with the required counselor, we again had a bad experience. I am prescribed Lexapro and Hydroxyzine to manage my anxiety. I already confirmed with my PCP AND Dr. Bjorkman that both are safe for pregnancy. The counselor mentioned multiple times during our session that I really needed to look at getting off of those meds because they would not be good for my treatment and I just needed to manage my anxiety with coping skills. It was her first time meeting me, she didn’t know my history, and clearly had not read my treatment plan.

Treatment Plan: This was a mess. Dr. Bjorkman had explained a course of treatment that I was in agreement with and was fully outlined in my chart. Not one other individual I interacted with seemed to know this. At one point, I was given the wrong dose of Letrozole after a failed round. I brought this up to the nurse and instead of checking my treatment plan, she doubled down and would only prescribe the 2.5 dose instead of the 5 dose it was supposed to be. The nurses rarely explained what was next and when I would bring up what I had understood from my treatment plan, I was dismissed like I didn’t know what I was talking about. There was also always confusion from the nurses when I would call requesting to start provera to induce my cycle, even though it was clearly in my chart that I have PCOS and do not regularly get cycles on my own. None of the nurses seemed to be in agreement about general treatment either and I was given conflicting instructions.

Sperm: When ordering sperm from a sperm bank, TFC did not let me know ONCE through the process that not all their doctors are registered with the sperm banks and you have to place the order under another doctor’s name. The clinic itself is also listed with sperm banks by a different name. Which again, was not mentioned once during the entire process despite even having an appointment with the individual who manages the sperm aspect of...

What I experienced here wasn’t just a mistake—it was medically dangerous and emotionally traumatic. A major prescription error went uncorrected for weeks, caused serious physical side effects, and ultimately compromised my IUI cycle. Even worse, I was met with dismissiveness, gaslighting, and a total lack of accountability from parts of their staff.

Here’s what happened:

I was referred by Lakeland of St. Joseph and received a $250 coupon for my first appointment. The front desk was cold and dismissive, and I was still billed despite presenting the coupon. When I called to clarify, I was spoken to condescendingly—setting the tone for what was to come.

While on Letrozole, I was told I couldn’t move forward with treatment due to a septate uterus. The nurse, Anne, delivered this news abruptly and without an ounce of compassion. Fortunately, I was later transferred to the Grand Rapids location, where I had surgery—thankfully, that part of my care was handled well.

But then came the most serious issue.

I was prescribed Cabergoline 0.5mg — 30 tablets to be taken daily, which I followed exactly. I even messaged through MyChart early on to confirm, and Anne verified the dosage. What I didn’t know? The prescription was seven times the correct dosage — it should’ve been once per week.

Over the next few weeks, I experienced hallucinations, migraines, abdominal pain, and emotional distress. Still, no one corrected the error or advised me to stop. When I followed up after my IUI, I was finally told the dosage was wrong. My prolactin had dropped to a critically low 0.3. The cycle was already done. The damage had been done.

Dr. Bjorkman eventually admitted the mistake and apologized, citing a system-generated error. The clinic director called and offered a $400 credit, which felt inadequate given the emotional, physical, and financial toll.

The final straw was a combative call from the practice manager, Dawn, who was unprofessional, condescending, and dismissive—despite the clinic already admitting fault. She accused me of misunderstanding the instructions and twisted my words before I ended the call.

Even worse, I received a letter from a doctor I had never seen claiming I failed to follow instructions — completely ignoring everything that had happened. It felt like blatant gaslighting.

To be clear:

I was prescribed a dangerously high dose of medication.

I confirmed the dosage through the clinic.

The error wasn’t corrected for weeks.

I suffered physical side effects and emotional trauma.

My IUI was compromised.

The clinic admitted the error but failed to take real accountability.

I was later mistreated for speaking up.

Please be cautious before trusting this clinic. Mistakes happen, but how they’re handled matters. What happened to me wasn’t just a clerical error — it was a breakdown in care, professionalism, and basic human empathy. I wouldn’t wish this...

My feelings are a bit all over the place regarding TFC.

I am due with my IVF Baby in December

My Dr was Dr. Shavell, and I have had the utmost respect for her. She gave me all the information she could - and reading some of the other reviews others struggled with her telling them it’s up to them. As I did receive that comeback before as well - I also understood why I was given it. The Drs can only do their best but they can’t tell me what to do ethically- no matter how much I wanted them too.

I struggled with the IUI treatments - in the aspect with always having a different nurse. And because of that I was always trying to make sure I was scheduling so I would be with Nurse Bethany. She was a sweetheart who shown care at all times. When I did not have her it was a struggle because it felt as if I was given attitude because I wasn’t in the happiest mood to hear the IUI treatment did not work or because the eggs had already overgrown and couldn’t move forward.

However when I moved to the IVF treatments - Shavell knew that I would not be able to handle different nurses coming and going. So she assigned two nurses to me - Emily and Alli who were beyond awesome.

Whenever I had concerns I was able to call and they were patient with me while I vented or cried or freaked out. And then would inform me of the next step (if I focus on the whole picture I’d get overwhelmed - and I informed them of this. So they would point me to the next step)

Time of transfer, I was informed Shavell would not be able to do it - due to being at another location that day. I was hurt and a bit scared. Due to Shavell’s care, she scheduled for my transfer to be at the end of the day. She then came back to the GR location after her last appointment to provide the transfer for me - so I wouldn’t have to be with another Dr.

Billing: as everyone else has stated - they are very disorganized. When I questioned why it was not going through my insurance (I have been blessed with very good insurance) I was talked down to - which did not set well with me. I went to my Dr to inform her I would not be able to move forward if respect was not being shown both ways with all departments. I then began talking only to the Director in Billing. Who did her best to help me understand what was happening - I paid the deposit and then after EVERY appointment - they would send that portion into my insurance to be reimbursed. I was not reimbursed much - but at least it was going to my deductible- which was all I wanted.

IUI Nurses: 3.5 star IUI Bethany: 5 stars IVF Nurses: 5 stars Dr. Shavell: 10 stars Billing Department: .5 star Billing Department...