Legacy vs. Sppare.me Sperm Testing & Freezing

this is part of a series where i do head to head analyses of three mail-in sperm companies: legacy, dadi, and sppare.me. this is part 3 of 3!

Conclusion: Legacy is consistently better than Sppare.me overall

final scores:

LEGACY: 18/20

SPPARE.ME: 13.5/20

below i’ll explain the key things i was looking for and the score i gave each company:

THIRD PARTY CREDIBILITY/TRUST.

what does the rest of the world think about these companies? have they been validated? are they just startups trying to take my money or can i trust them?

LEGACY: 5/5

i thought this was extremely clear to me. i did a lot of research on all of the companies and they were the best here. they were founded at harvard university, they won a bunch of international awards, they have a very strong team and very credible advisors. they did a really good job i thought of making that clear.

+1 for harvard

+1 for team and advisors

SPPARE.ME: 2.5/5

i don’t think they do a good job here at all. they don’t have a team page, i don’t recognize anyone on their website, as far as i can tell they haven’t been in the news or have any sort of international recognition. they list 3 advisors on their page but no team which i find extremely strange and not very trustworthy.

-1 for no team page

-1.5 for no brand names i recognized and they they don’t have any sort of recognition anywhere

+0.5 because they seem to have been around since 2016 or 2017

ANALYSIS QUALITY.

once i looked at what the rest of the world thought, i also wanted to do my own research. i thought both companies were good, but sppare.me was better.

LEGACY: 4.5/5

their semen analysis includes all the main factors (although not clear if they include ph or liquefaction, mine didn’t) and was basically the same as what i got from my clinic. this was a +1.

i liked that they gave an explanation of everything and i had someone to talk to throughout the whole process. customer service here was a +1

i think they have more room for improvement in how they visualize the results, so this was a -0.5. it was mostly text and i found their ‘client dashboard’ a little confusing to navigate.

cost of analysis only: $195

SPPARE.ME: 4.5/5

+1 because their semen analysis includes most the main factors (excluding morphology, which is available for an extra $100) and is the same as what you’d get at a clinic.

+1 because their customer service is overall good and i thought their website explanations were good as well.

-0.5 because they didn’t do a great job of explaining everything on the results and so it still felt exactly like when i had to call my doctor at the fertility clinic here and ask them to walk me through my results

cost of analysis only: $250 + $100 for the morphology report = $350

FREEZING QUALITY.

this mattered a lot to me since i was planning on doing freezing, and probably for the next 5 or 10 years, so i wanted to know my sample would be safe.

LEGACY: 5/5

i liked everything legacy has when it comes to freezing. i spoke to someone on the phone and they walked me through the whole process, which i think is also on the website. they have really really good risk mitigation practices. they explained that when they finish the analysis, they put it into a short term freeze in preparation for shipping. then:

1. a few days later, they thaw a small amount to make sure it froze properly, and they then test the count and motility (and give you the results)
2. they ship it to their cryostorage facility in two shipments in case anything happens to one of the shipments (they told me their shipper hasnt had an issue since the 1980s)
3. then at the facility they divide your sperm into multiple tanks and locations which is really cool since it means even if there was a malfunction somewhere, your sperm is stored in more than one place

+1 for each and also +0.5 because they explained it to me so clearly

also you freeze 3-6 vials (they said it depends on how much sperm you produce in your ejaculation, i had 5 vials frozen)

SPPARE.ME: 3.5/5

in general, it feels almost identical to dadi. they work with the Diamond Institute in new jersey, which seems like a credible facility with a trustworthy history.

+1 because their clinic is the same place they do the freezing, so this means no risk during transportation

+0.5 because it seems to be a credible facility with a good track record (50+ years in operation)

-1 because their clinic is the same place they do the freezing! since they can’t do any redundancy like legacy does

+0.5 because you get 3-6, which is same as legacy and more than dadi

-0.5 because they require you to submit an std test which is annoying and not needed at other companies

PRICE

LEGACY: 3.5/5

i thought legacy’s pricing was fine. it costs $200 for the analysis and then you can buy 5 years of storage for $500.

-1.5 because there are cheaper options out there

+0.5 because they have a monthly option and because they don’t charge withdrawal fees

-0.5 because there’s no option to pay in installments (sppare.me does this)

total cost:

6 months: $90

1 year: $150

2 years: $300

5 years: $500 ($100/year)

10 years: $1,000 ($100/year)

50 years: $4,000 ($80/year)

SPPARE.ME: 3/5

overall their prices are OK at $125-$130 per year but are consistently more expensive than legacy.

-1 because they are consistently more expensive than legacy

+1 because they offer the option to pay in installments (and are the only ones to offer this) and because there aren’t any withdrawal fees

they also have inconsistent pricing… why is 10 years more expensive on a yearly basis than 5 years?!

total cost:

6 months: N/A

1 year: $145 (1st year included in the cost of your $250 analysis)

2 years: $290 ($145/year)

5 years: $635 ($127/year)

10 years: $1,340 ($134/year)

50 years: $6,350 ($127/year if you renew every 5 years)

overall:

legacy is better than sppare.me for price and quality of sperm analysis

legacy is better than sppare.me for price and quality of sperm freezing