Florida Institute for Reproductive Medicine

"I have yet to have an appointment here.. but I just want to say.. for someone going through infertility.. I’ve had a difficult time with OB offices being sympathetic. Today, I called FIRM with a few questions and the receptionist was so kind and I honestly have never been so happy to finally talk to someone who is willing to listen to me. I am excited to schedule my appointment, but just wanted to mention how great just even my first interaction was!"

"They only offer treatment if your BMI is under 30. This should be told before the appointment and before testing so that people do not waste their time and money here. Ladies, there are other DRs out there that will help you conceive even with a higher bmi (as long as you're healthy and it's safe of course). Don't give up! Your weight does not determine your worthiness of being a mother!"

"We went to FIRM after struggling to conceive and we were lucky enough to meet Dr. Erb. From the very beginning, Dr. Erb took the time to explain all of our options, their risks and benefits, and likelihood of success. Through every disappointment, Dr. Erb was reassuring and offered support in all of our decisions. Because of Dr. Erb and the entire team at FIRM, my husband and I now have 2 amazing children (4mos and 22mos). We feel beyond blessed and thankful. If in need of reproductive advice and assistance, I would recommend FIRM and Dr. Erb to anyone!"

"I'm extremely frustrated with my experience with the Florida Institute for Reproductive Medicine and the lack of care and compassion I experienced through their office. I feel as if they only want to push patients towards treatments that make the most money for them and are not interested in looking at the root cause of infertility, even when requested by the patient directly. I began seeing Dr. Freeman almost 10 years ago in which he diagnosed me with PCOS. At the time, he commented that while I had a lot of the physical symptoms of the condition, my blood work did not really back it up and I lacked a major symptom commonly seen in PCOS which is obesity. Because I was not actively trying to conceive at the time, I just lived with this diagnosis and nothing further was done. Fast forward to 2022, and am experiencing infertility. My normal OBGYN recommended I return back to FIRM to look further into my infertility as all my testing thus far had come back normal. Dr. Freeman is not currently practicing, and I'm not sure if he will return because of a medical diagnosis, so I had an appointment with Dr. Erb. Because my husband and I's test all were returning normal, she let us know that her recommendation would be taking steps towards IUI or IVF. Her first recommendation would be for us to get a pre-natal genetic carrier screening done to make sure that we do not have any conditions that would be passed along to a baby. We went on to have the genetic screening report done, which only discusses carrier status and does not diagnosis you with any condition. While together we are a low-risk couple and did not have any conditions of concerns, a genetic condition that effects fertility popped up on mine that under further scrutiny I believe I may actually have. Ironically, after reading countless medical journals they believe up to 40% of PCOS cases are misdiagnosed and are actually this condition. It is not a rare condition and it is not something that's life-threatening or particularly serious, but amounts in some hormone imbalances that causes PCOS-like symptoms and infertility. I called to speak with Dr. Erb's office to see if they would order a blood test that measured certain hormone levels tied to this condition and reproduction to see if we could confirm I had this condition, as again, the genetic test that was done only measured carrier status and was not diagnostic. I was met with resistance and told they would not look into this further even though it's a reproductive condition and sources online suggest that either a fertility clinic or an OBGYN can treat you for it. For this condition, low doses of steroids are used to help balance the hormone production effected by this condition and increase fertility. A medical study published in 2019 suggests that 90% of patients that received this treatment went on to conceive naturally without further intervention. When I spoke to the clinic staff about this I was told that they would not pursue this, and that my only options under their care were IUI / IVF. I don't know why Dr. Erb refused to try a medication that would cost me $4, as even if it wasn't successful, it seems like a natural first step to want to try that before investing thousands or tens of thousands into more invasive treatment. Because of this refusal, I can't help to feel that it is self-serving and because they want to make their money through IUI or IVF treatments. Furthermore, reflecting back, I'm a little frustrated that this condition was never brought to my attention when I was seeing Dr Freeman as a possible cause if so many cases of PCOS (of which he is a specialist) is misdiagnosis of this condition. When asked about next steps, they would not provide me with a referral or even a suggestion of where to look for help, and I received the unhelpful suggestion of 'look online'."

"The nurses and Dr Freeman in this office are amazing. They were informative and very helpful during my journey with infertility. Infertility treatment is strenuous and expensive with no guarantee that it will work. You just have to be an informed patient and understand the odds of successes and failures in advanced. In my case, after some failures The Firm helped me conceive a healthy baby girl. I will say the staff in Jacksonville isn’t the best. It’s really hard to get in touch with anyone since a lot of procedures do have to be done in that office due to equipment or timing of your cycle. Maybe because they are super busy there scheduling for multiple offices. I would recommend contacting the staff in Daytona if that’s your regular office and have them help with making your appointments in jacksonville."