Drs. Craig Sweet and Valerie Shavell & her physician partners to Perform Embryo Transfers for NEDC Patients in Florida and Michigan
NEWS PROVIDED BY
National Embryo Donation Center
April 30, 2026
KNOXVILLE, Tenn., April 30, 2026 /Standard Newswire/ — The National Embryo Donation Center (NEDC) is pleased to announce the addition of two new affiliate clinics, bringing its embryo adoption and donation services closer to families across the country. Dr. Craig Sweet of Embryo Donation International, P.L., will serve as the NEDC’s affiliate physician in Fort Myers, Florida, and Dr. Valerie Shavell & her physician partners of The Fertility Center will serve in Grand Rapids, Michigan, with each performing frozen embryo transfers for NEDC patients in their respective regions.
For NEDC patients, the experience will remain seamless regardless of which affiliate clinic they choose. Patients interested in either the Fort Myers or Grand Rapids location will simply communicate that desire during their initial interactions with the NEDC’s patient coordination team. Such patients will then be scheduled for visits to their chosen clinic for medical clearance and frozen embryo transfer (FET). The NEDC remains headquartered in Knoxville, Tennessee, where its flagship affiliate clinic, Southeastern Fertility Center, will continue to perform FETs for NEDC patients as well.
Dr. Sweet brings extraordinary credentials and decades of experience. A board-certified Reproductive Endocrinologist and Obstetrician/Gynecologist, he has practiced in Fort Myers since 1991. In 2011, he also founded Embryo Donation International (EDI), giving him deep familiarity with the embryo donation landscape.
Dr. Shavell brings equally impressive expertise to the partnership. A board-certified Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility specialist, she joined The Fertility Center in Grand Rapids in 2013. Dr. Shavell is also an assistant clinical professor at Michigan State University and Western Michigan University.
“Dr. Sweet and Dr. Shavell are both physicians we know and respect in this field,” said NEDC President Dr. Jeffrey Keenan. “Their long-standing commitments to reproductive medicine, ethical patient care, and embryo donation make them ideal partners for the NEDC. These affiliations will benefit NEDC families in the Southeast and the Midwest for whom receiving treatment closer to home is a welcome option.”
“I am honored to partner with the NEDC and to help more families experience the joy of parenthood through embryo donation,” said Dr. Sweet. “This is a mission I have been committed to for years through EDI, and I look forward to extending that work together with the NEDC team.”
“The Fertility Center has long been committed to helping patients build their families through every available path, including embryo donation,” said Dr. Shavell. “Partnering with the NEDC allows us to serve even more Midwest patients who are seeking this beautiful option.”
The NEDC is the World Leader in Embryo Adoption, with well over 1,700 babies born through its program to date, the most of any embryo adoption organization. The NEDC is a Christian ministry committed to protecting the lives and dignity of frozen embryos while helping married couples build the families they have longed for. Embryos have been donated from all 50 states. Recipients have traveled from across the United States, U.S. territories, and about a dozen foreign countries, including as far away as China, to participate in the program. The NEDC’s website is www.embryodonation.org.
For more information, contact the NEDC’s Greg Madron at financial.manager@nedc.life or 865-777-2013.
SOURCE National Embryo Donation Center