Complaints have been lodged against the Northern California Fertility Medical Center, which is a fertility clinic, alleging that the facility does not provide adequate care and compassion for its patients. The clinic is accused in several of the clinic’s reviews of peddling false hope while at the same time attempting to extract as much money from patients as they can.
The following analysis will discuss a selection of those grievances in order to provide you with a clearer picture of what it’s like to collaborate with the company in question.
About Northern California Fertility Medical Center
A fertility clinic may be found in North Highlands, California, and its name is the Northern California Fertility Medical Center. Their location may be found at 4320 Auburn Blvd, Sacramento, California 95841, in the United States.
On weekdays, they are open from 8:30 AM until 4:30 PM, and on weekends, their hours of operation are 8:30 AM until 12 PM.
They provide a variety of therapies to their customers, including the following:
IVF Vasectomy reversal surgical procedure
Male infertility identification
Egg contribution
Recurrent miscarriage treatment
Treatment for infertility in females
And more.
They serve clients in various areas including Folsom, Lake Tahoe, Bay Area, Elk Grove, El Dorado Hills, Redding, Stockton and more.
The doctors here are Dr. Sara Babcock Gilbert, Dr. Manuel A. Doblado, Dr. Michael J. Murray, and Dr. Laurie P. Lovely.
On paper, it might seem like one of the best fertility clinics in northern California. However, when you look at the Northern California Fertility Medical Center reviews, you see a completely different picture. In the next section of my review, I have shared some of the numerous complaints this fertility clinic has received. So, you can understand what it’s truly like to work with them.
Northern California Fertility Medical Center Has Expensive Procedures and Careless Staff
Here, the reviewer says that her treatment began with 2 rounds of moderate dosage of Clomid. Unfortunately, it didn’t affect her body like it was expected to so she underwent another round of Clomid before both of her IUIs.
The third time, they doubled the dosage of Clomid and tried to see if it made a difference. Then, the clinic canceled her IUI and she went in the next month for a baseline ultrasound.
During that visit, they told her she had a cyst on her ovaries. So, she went on birth control for a month. Then, she went back for another ultrasound, the cyst cleared up and they started giving her injections.
The injections worked and the reviewer underwent another IUI which was also unsuccessful.
She shares that her biggest gripe with this place is how they handle callbacks. The clinic doesn’t call back in time. Many times, she had to wait for 2 days to get a reply.
Furthermore, the procedures were quite expensive. Each IUI was around $1200 and the insurance covered a little of the consultations.
The biggest issues she had were their failure to order appropriate tests and failure to call her with the results. Also, the clinic failed to share critical information and inform of the changes in protocol.
She points out that they didn’t send her prescriptions twice. Also, they canceled the IUI without any explanation except that the medicine didn’t work. They gave her the results incorrectly and they called her later to tell her that they had read them wrong.
Doctor Doesn’t Interact Enough, Provide Contradicting Information
In this instance, the reviewer expresses her dissatisfaction with the outcome, despite the fact that she acknowledges that Dr. Sahar Stephens is a kind physician.
They used Clomid for both of their IUI procedures. The first treatment consisted of a moderate dose, whereas the second was a standard one. Both of the intrauterine inseminations came up negative. After that, they suggested that we undergo IVF treatment. On the other hand, the reviewer’s hormone levels were extremely high during the injection, which is why they were unable to receive the correct amount of HCG.
As a consequence of this, the reviewer was required to change from a fresh transfer to a freeze. They attempted to transfer two eggs, but none of the attempts were successful.
According to the reviewer, one of the first things that struck them was how chilly the front desk was. In addition to this, when you progress through the IUI and IVF stages, they make you feel like a number by transferring you to other doctors. She is aware of the time-sensitive nature of these operations but maintains that it would be beneficial if the physicians who are responsible for your particular case communicated with you more.
In her experience, the insurance reimbursed fifty percent of the cost of the IUIs; hence, she was responsible for paying one thousand dollars for two IUIs in a row. They charged an extra $800 for the procedure of freezing the eggs, bringing the total cost of egg retrieval and transfer for IVF to a total of $12,000.
None of the hormones were covered by insurance, so that was an additional $4,000 out of pocket.
The reviewer brings out the fact that they gave her information that was inconsistent with one another.
She brings up the fact that the sperm count figures that were displayed on the patient portal were not entirely accurate on the day that the IUI was performed. Because of this, she was left feeling confused about the true sperm count.
Staff Doesn’t Convey Critical Information, Doesn’t Know How to Communicate
The reviewer who came before you had positive things to say about Dr. Sahar Stephens of Northern California Fertility Medical Center. On the other hand, she had a problem with the other employees.
She reveals that it was challenging to receive a call back from the primary nursing personnel at the facility. In addition to this, they failed to provide the reviewer with a significant amount of crucial material in a timely manner. For instance, they did not discuss the PGS testing with the reviewer at any point.
In spite of the fact that the clinic had provided the reviewer with a handout, it was largely ignored. They made it seem like something that people don’t really do, so the reviewer didn’t place much stock in it and moved on to other things instead.
She bemoans the fact that she does not know more about it in order to comprehend how the odds of success are increased by doing so.
She mentions that the clinic lost appointments, failed to call with results, failed to call with key information, and offered her contradicting information as some of the things that went wrong during her time there.
Consequently, during her period, she was required to maintain a constant presence with her nurse.
Clinic Takes No Responsibility, Treats Male Patients Differently
According to the reviewer that was read above, every time he engaged with the staff at Northern California Fertility Medical Center, he was let down in some way. It was incredibly challenging for him to make contact with someone to whom he could provide information in order to become a patient.
They requested that he give them his photo identification, so he proceeded to the front desk and inquired as to whether or not there was anything else that the clinic required. The personnel at the front desk informed him, “No, you can sit down,” and then shortly thereafter they requested that he return in order to pay his copay.
According to him, it was a stressful experience, which was the last thing he needed during a sensitive medical appointment. They dismissed his inquiries concerning the particulars of delivering a sample as “not important” when he questioned them about the matter.
After that, they provided him with the data he needed to access his results on a website. The clinic had issued him with a username and password, in addition to giving him instructions on how to connect in to that website.
On the other hand, the reviewer has never been successful in logging in there. When he contacted to inquire about sharing his results, they informed him that they were unable to do so due to the “inconclusive” nature of the test. After that, the medical center gave him the advice to schedule a consultation with a urologist.
The reviewer states that writing this review was a very emotional experience for him, and as a result, he waited several months before beginning the process. He is under the impression that they dealt with him differently due to the fact that he is a boy. According to the reviewer who was just mentioned, the individual’s experience at the Northern California Fertility Medical Center was the most negative one he has ever had at any other clinic or with any other physician.
Later, he added an update to his complaint. The clinic claimed that they are happy to help with the portal login which was a clear lie. According to the reviewer, he called the place multiple times seeking help but they always brushed him off.
Also, when he called the place to get information about his results, the clinic didn’t bother to give him any explanation. They blamed the sample for the inconclusive test results. This is a notable complaint because many gay male couples seek the help of such clinics and facing discrimination wouldn’t help.
“This Place is a Total Rip Off”
Natalie doesn’t think this fertility practice is a good choice. “Don’t believe anything this clinic says,” she says.
Natalie says that this clinic tells you what you want to hear and tricks you like a dirty car dealer. The center gives you a lot of false hope so they can keep taking your money.
She is a patient who is 40 years old and had no trouble getting pregnant. Natalie makes a point of saying that she got pregnant the first time she tried four years ago and has a healthy son.
Also, she didn’t lose any babies. She wanted to keep some embryos as a paid patient in case she needed them in the future. After spending a lot of money on blood tests, she got an ultrasound, which showed that her follicles were very active. They were sure they could help her at the clinic.
She told them that she wanted to be able to have one more child if she could. Natalie didn’t want an entire team because she already had kids.
After giving birth control, the doctor started the process. Two days later, they did an MRI. But the doctor was shocked and said that her body must have reacted too strongly to the birth control.
He told her not to worry, though. He told her he wouldn’t do the harvest until he was sure he could get enough eggs. Also, he said he was sure that Natalie’s eggs were good for her.
Then, for a few weeks, they kept an eye on her. Natalie says that she saw a different doctor at each visit. Each time, her follicles grew, even though they moved slowly. She had 11 all together.
They went back and forth and decided to get them a day earlier than the other doctor she had seen on her last visit.
The doctors let go of the biggest one and called the smaller one a runt. So, she got 9 in the end. But the surgeon only got three, and they were all wrong.
Natalie needed a lot more eggs than they got, and they could have gotten them for her if they had done the surgery right or waited a day or two.
At the very least, they could have put off the IVF until her body was back to how it was before. Natalie had already spent more than $20,000 on the surgeries. Then, when she went back, she saw a completely different doctor.
Also, they didn’t tell her who would do her surgery until she showed up for it. Natalie says that the people at Northern California Fertility Medical Center are disorganized, rude, and greedy.
Later, they said that her age was to blame for the bad results and refused to take any blame. She says that if it’s because of her age, they should have told her that from the start. Or even better, they shouldn’t have taken her as a patient in the first place.
Also, why did they only choose 3 of the 11? In her review, Natalie asks a lot of questions like this one.
“The Staff at Northern California Fertility Medical Center is Extremely Cold”
Like most of the other reviews I’ve read so far about Northern California Fertility Medical Center, this one also says good things about the doctor. The person who wrote the review says that Dr. Laurie Lovely knew a lot and was very helpful.
But the staff here was very unfriendly. They did some things wrong.
The reader would like to see the staff care more about the health of their patients. Because each patient’s case is different, they should try to understand them.
Also, most of the people who come here are going through very hard times, and the staff’s coldness doesn’t help.
The reviewer said that the biggest problems with this clinic were that it didn’t send her chart to another clinic and didn’t share important information. Also, she got different information from the doctor.
She says that the people at the front desk gave her the wrong information.
$50,000+ for Unsuccessful Treatments and Rude Staff
Additional Northern California Fertility Medical Center Reviews
Paying BBB To Seem More Credible
As you’ve seen, customers have a lot of concerns about Northern California Fertility Medical Center. But instead of addressing and fixing the problems that led to these complaints, the people in charge of this center use unethical ways to market themselves.
They pay the BBB for accreditation as a cheap way to sell their business.
They have an A+ grade and are an accredited business on BBB. Contrary to what most people think, you don’t have to run a good business to get BBB recognition. You can get one by paying a big fee every year, which can go as high as $10,000.
CNN Money has done extensive research on this topic. They found that many scammers and companies facing charges of fraud and discrimination had A+ profiles on BBB simply because of their accreditation status.
It seems Northern California Fertility Medical Center has used the same tactic utilized by those scammers. This is quite unethical and suggests that they are trying to deceive consumers. Certainly, it’s a huge red flag.
Verdict
After going through the above Northern California Fertility Medical Center reviews, it’s obvious that this place is not as reliable as it claims to be.
According to the complaints, the doctors here need to care more about their patients rather than their wallets. Furthermore, the staff here needs to become more compassionate.
If you’re looking for a compassionate and caring fertility clinic, this is not the right place for you. Go somewhere else.
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