Northwestern Medicine Center for Fertility and Reproductive Medicine, Chicago, যুক্তরাষ্ট্র

This is simply the worst place for in vitro fertilization (IVF). You wait several months every time, see a different doctor each time, and have to hope an appointment is available. It operates like a cable company: they give you a date six months away, and you either take it or leave it. I do not know how the people who work there can feel confident in their work or believe they are contributing to the world. We received conflicting instructions several times, and they even put our egg retrieval at risk. A three-star Google rating is shockingly low, yet still far too high. Honestly, for one of the most painful procedures of your life, you would be better off going to Mexico. It is disgusting, pathetic, and disgraceful.

Although the doctors here are highly skilled, the overall system is appalling. Appointments require a six-month wait, the care team changes constantly, and mistakes are common. Do not come here. You feel isolated and unsupported because of the negligence surrounding one of the most important procedures of your life. The entire team's incompetence is unbelievable. You would be better off anywhere else. They do not prioritize patients and are so busy that it feels as though they do not care about your reproductive health. They even ordered the wrong test because they were too busy, approaching the level of malpractice. Go anywhere else, even Mexico.

My husband and I are so grateful for Dr. Jain and the nurses. We had a hunch something was off about my cycles and we felt heard. Dr. Jain suggested cabergoline and progesterone for my specific case and he was correct. We got pregnant that same cycle. We are truly lucky but credit Dr. Jain and the nurses. Our little guy is now 3 months.

I am documenting this experience because, despite working with this team for only about a month, I developed serious concerns about communication, procedural fairness, and bias in care. The issue began when a representative from a specialty pharmacy gave me inaccurate insurance guidance and instructed me to obtain documentation that ultimately did not match my insurer's actual requirements. This caused unnecessary confusion and consumed significant time as I tried to resolve conflicting information. Over the course of a week, I made repeated good-faith attempts to communicate with the pharmacy, the center, and patient relations to clarify the situation. Despite this, I received no clear clinical explanation. Instead, I later received written notice from Emily Stevenson—who, incidentally, graduated from the University of Phoenix—describing my behavior as “aggressive” and terminating my care. “Aggressive” is not a neutral term. As a woman of color, being labeled this way after expressing frustration about inaccurate information was deeply troubling. Extensive research shows that women of color who advocate for themselves in medical and professional settings are more likely to be labeled “aggressive.” That broader context is inseparable from my experience. There was no prior record of behavioral concerns, no warning, and no attempt at mediation before my care was terminated. I was not in an active treatment cycle at the time. During the consultation, Dr. Bren arrived late and mainly deferred to his colleague. That colleague and the attending physician disagreed several times during the visit, creating confusion and undermining my confidence in the clarity of the treatment plan. While delays can occur at busy clinics, the entire visit felt rushed and lacked a patient-centered approach. Fertility treatment is emotionally and financially demanding. Patients deserve accurate insurance guidance, coordinated communication between the clinic and pharmacy, and appropriate conflict resolution when problems arise. In my experience, those standards were not met. Patients, especially minority patients, should expect fair treatment, careful communication, and due process when advocating for themselves.

The worst phone service I have ever encountered. They are rude and unhelpful, and nurses take far too long to answer calls. I am considering changing doctors.

At the registration desk at FRM, Fertility and Reproductive Medicine, you may be treated rudely and spoken to as though you are incompetent or ignorant. The women who usually sit at desk 3 are very kind, helpful, respectful, and courteous. During my appointments, I could always hear the women at desk 1 speaking negatively about patients they had just talked to on the phone. The conversations and attitude at desk 1 were inappropriate for the workplace, especially in an environment centered on creating life. The attitude at desk 1 made it seem as though she did not want to be there, and it has not improved. Dr. Jungheim is excellent, very kind, and easy to communicate with. She made the visit very pleasant. This clinic also sees male patients who come to provide samples to help create life. I saw reviews describing it as "disgusting" that so many men were in the clinic on one particular day. At FRM, it is normal for male patients to be in the waiting area by themselves.

Service at this clinic is extremely slow and impersonal. I would not recommend Northwestern Medicine to anyone just beginning to plan a family. I often felt like part of a factory and was rushed out the door. Based on what I have heard from people receiving care in other hospital networks, the process should move faster and I should see a doctor more frequently.

This was my first and only IVF cycle here. I had just one embryo, and it split into twins. I am extremely grateful to the doctors and nurses, who were very professional and patient.

Dr. Jain and his team, especially his nurse Katherine, are wonderful. Northwestern is organized, provides clear guidance and attentive care, and accommodates each patient's needs with individualized treatment. My husband and I feel very fortunate to have such a professional team. Highly recommended!

Thank you so much for helping me achieve my dream of building a family! It is the best gift I could ask for! Dr. Tarun Jain was my doctor. In 2019, I gave birth to my beautiful, healthy son, and now, at age 41 in 2024, he helped me have a healthy, beautiful daughter! I am one in a million...after my husband died, I decided to have a child on my own. I felt he truly cared and supported my decision. Dr. Tarun Jain was very understanding and empathetic throughout the entire process. He took time to review the options and recommend the next steps, always keeping the science-based probabilities in mind. What I appreciated most was that he took time to congratulate me personally on the birth of my child...I did it, and I would certainly recommend him as a highly skilled professional and the best doctor ever!

Terrible. I wanted to become a surrogate and was medically “perfect,” but they would not allow it because I had recently lost my job and said the resulting stress did not meet their criteria.

They require a new notarized document for every embryo transfer, while most clinics require one only at the beginning. If you do not understand, they threaten to cancel the cycle. Beware!

I have to edit and add that the front desk staff were very kind and helpful to us. Many times they said, “Oh, I hope everything goes well” or “Feel better.” The phlebotomists always had excellent technique, so I rarely even felt the blood draw. Our primary doctor was Dr. Pavone, and we absolutely love her. She is direct and serious, which works very well for us.

I cannot recommend fertility care at Northwestern highly enough. I spent more than a year and over $50,000 with another clinic, with no explanation for why I was not becoming pregnant and no personalized care. I switched to Dr. Jain at Northwestern, who immediately identified the problem and gave me a personalized treatment plan. I completed one retrieval cycle with them and obtained 8 embryos—one normal embryo! I then had an embryo transfer and am now eight weeks pregnant. It may take time to get an appointment as a new patient, but I promise it is worth the wait.