Pacific Northwest Fertility

We went through PNWF for three medicated cycles and two IUIs. Over the span of that time (about 5 months) we never saw a doctor in person. Every procedure and all education was done by a nurse. Also, without exaggeration, about 70% of the time I would call the clinic they would not answer. No option for a call back or anything either, just a voice mail. That’s so frustrating when it’s a medical issue! The billing team was also incredibly rude to me. My insurance (Kaiser) requested that the billing team reach out to them directly through phone call, and the billing team at PNWF refused to contact them directly, saying they were too busy and that wasn’t a part of their jobs. Lastly, when I requested a second opinion, the doctor asked if we could do the conversation via a 15 minute phone call and they charged me $200 for that phone call. I have since moved to and graduated from another clinic and not only was I treated so much better, but I had a close relationship with my doctor and felt so supported and cared about by the team. PNWF does not take the care to make each patient feel cared for and I’m so glad I didn’t go through the emotionally exhausting process of IVF with their team. The front desk folk were very kind though! Also, PNWF does not validate parking which is just another fee on top of a very expensive clinic. I would not recommend PNWF to anyone.

TL:DR DO NOT CHOOSE THIS INSTITUTION UNLESS YOU HAVE A LOT OF YEARS AND MONEY TO WASTE.I should have read the Google review before I work with them. But they are the first one that referred by my primary doctor. With the strange American medical system, its not trivial to get a referral. So I decided to be a patient of PNWF. It turns out this is a nightmare.After I received the referral, I registered as their patient. I filled up a lot of forms and signed a lot of waivers and finally I could start to make an appointment. I was told the earliest available appointment is in 3 months. At that time, I was pretty early on my schedule. So I just made the appointment without thinking too much. The first incident happened 2 months after I made the appointment. They just cancelled my appointment. They called me to notify the cancellation and told me to call them to re-schedule. Sure, things happens. I understand. So I try to call them back and re-schedule the appointment. I called them multiple times over a few days. No matter when I call I them, 10am in the morning or 2pm in the afternoon. Its always a voice mail telling me I am calling them out of their office hour. Ironically, they will call me back in a little bit and ask me to call them again. I work full time and have a lot of back to back meetings. So I couldnt pick up the phone call during the meetings. After go back and forth for a 3 or 4 times. I have to write them an email to tell them stop calling me and I prefer to communicate through email. Finally, they scheduled the first appointment for me again, and its a month later than the original appointment.So after a long waiting time, I finally could talk to the doctor Zhou. After I told her all about my concerns and our life plans and my special conditions. I was told they could do nothing unless we have been try to conceive for over a year. I understand that doctor has some practice guidance they need to follow. So she ordered some blood tests for me. I have very decent insurance and based on the PDF booklet they attached to the email, the price doesnt look crazy. So I agreed on all the tests (it turns out to be another nightmare later).When the test results came out, Dr. Zhou said I am  on the PCOS spectrum but they wont do anything for the first year. So I trusted her and start to prepare for pregnancy. I do my LH tests everyday, we try not to miss any windows. For the first few months, it feels new and fun to me. But after a few disappointing cycles. This start to become very frustrating. After three cycles of monitoring, I contact Dr. Zhous team and give them a detailed list of my records. They just say keep recording and let us know. I was a little bit unhappy at that point, because I dont know what is the point to let them know about this. Clearly, they wont do anything. However they did say I have to waste a year of my life before I can get help. So what else can I do. I keep doing my LH test for another cycle, let them know what happened. So they ended up scheduled anohter Zoom meeting for me again. (At this point, we have wasted 6 months already, not including the three months to wait for the first appointment.)Meeting went ok, Dr. Zhou issued Letrozole for me. But when I ask for Ultra sound monitoring same time when I start the pill. She suggested me try the pill for another 3 months first. I have to ask her for a HSG check. She agreed on HSG.The last straw that breaks all the trust is when I received a $15,000 bill from genetic testing lab. It turns out this lab is not in network with my insurance. And because this is the test that I requested. So its optional but not required. So I have to pay out of my pocket. Because this is not in net work, so my out of pocket limit doesnt apply for it.So at this point, I got a bill of $15,000, I didnt get any help from them besides a few blood tests and one ultrasound check at the beginning. I wasted 9 months of my life. After all of this, I finally look at the Google review and found another patient has similar experiences as I did.

I had an exceptional experience at PNWF. Everyone, from the receptionists to the nurses and doctors and their assistants were incredibly kind and caring. Special thanks to Dr. Lora Shahine and nurses Resa and Cara for their support. Im grateful for the excellent care I received, and Im not alone; three of my friends also found success and happiness here. Highly recommend this clinic to anyone seeking fertility assistance.

I was treated with care by everyone I encountered here, but am writing this review having moved on to another provider and feeling pretty uncomfortable in retrospect.In short, there are tests and data points which are easy to obtain that the team at PNWF does not seek as part of their standard protocol. I did ask for some of these tests to be done (DHEAS and full Thyroid Panel) and was denied.I went to a new Dr for a 2nd opinion before starting IVF with PNWF, and in just 30 days, I have more information about my fertilitys than I was able to learn in 10 months invested with Dr Zhou and Lamb.I understand that a standard protocol works well for most patients, but when it comes to something as emotionally and financially impactful as fertility, one-sized fits all is a dangerous approach (in my personal opinion).Now that I have a PCOS diagnosis, I can start medication to address the condition and improve not only my odds of fertility treatment being successful, but also my quality of life.I believe more complete testing earlier could have saved money , time and emotional investment in the IUIs and that ultimately, any great Dr would want to do that for their patients. I hope they see this review and make this simple changes!

I did several cycles at SRM and can confidently say that my experience with PNWF has been so much better. For starters, physicians have always done my ultrasounds at PNWF. This has allowed me to ask questions and get concerns answered on the spot versus having an ultrasound technician defer my questions to a nurse (which I would have to send through a portal).My nurses at PNWF have always contacted me when I expected them to, and answer my emails promptly. I appreciate being able to email my team directly, using my personal email account versus having to send communications through a portal.And finally, my provider, Dr. Lamb has been so kind and understanding. I’m a tough DOR case and most REs have tried to push me to donor egg. Dr. Lamb respected the direction I wanted to go and has been encouraging despite 2 cancelled cycles.I’m not sure if this next cycle will be successful or not, but I would recommend this clinic to everyone.My only complaint is that the clinic does not accept Cigna insurance which I will have with my new job. I have had such a good experience here that my husband and I are considering paying OOP in the future.

Wow if I could give them more than 5 stars!! Everyone is absolutely amazing! Doctors, staff and specially my ARNP Resa Tucker. I am so glad I choose them. They truly make me feel like family, and truly show that building my family is important. My husband and I have been struggling to conceive it has been a hard journey for us. I never thought that I would struggle with infertility, or that building our family would be so hard. But they truly showed me positivity, and light. They are working every step of the way to help us achieve that goal! Thank you for all you do!

Terrible, they treated us like a number, I saw my provider just 2 times during the whole 2 cycles of IVF and the results were extremely disappointed.

PNWF has been a pleasure to work with. Their group of Doctors and Nurses are professional, effective and provide nurturing care. They are intuitive, experienced and emotionally intelligent in their field of medicine. A medicine that requires both skill and heart. PNWF accomplishes both. So good to have them in Bellevue and on the east side.

Excellent communication!