Dadi vs Legacy Sperm Testing and Sperm Freezing (March 2022)

After my last post, I decided to do a head to head analysis of Legacy vs. Dadi vs. Sppare.me. I spent a lot of time digging into these companies (and others, like Cryochoice, which I didn’t cover) so please like and share the post if it was helpful to you! and thank you to everyone who has already reached out!

Conclusion: Legacy is a better choice than Dadi for most people

final scores:

LEGACY: 19/20

DADI: 15.5/20

Below I’ll explain the key things I was looking for and the score I gave each company.

NOTE: I updated my review in July 2021!! Legacy went up 1 point and Dadi went up 1 point as well! Last updated in March 2022 to add some new facts and figures. Note that Dadi is no longer an independent company, they sold to Ro. I may write a post about this later!

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

July 2021 update: I also like that they work directly with the Navy SEALs and are covered by insurance companies now, that’s pretty cool!

DADI: 3.5/5

i thought they did a good job overall. they seem to have really cool tech, and i loved their video showing how the kit is made and how it is used. i used their product and its a cool touch to have everything in one mechanism. it is clearly professionally designed.

i have heard of their advisors like jacques cohen and that seems like a big name in the male fertility world. i also found multiple articles about them, like in GQ or other big articles, so they clearly have some third party credibility.

what i didn’t like: they don’t have a team page which i’ve always found super strange (same with sppare.me). i sent the website to my bf and he was googling the company as well.

it turns out their ceo used to run a GIF company and has some gifs of him that do not super inspire confidence for a company that is testing and freezing my sperm…. !!!!

then lastly they have a ‘reviews’ section on the website but it seems fake?? they don’t seem like real reviews at all and i couldn’t find those reviews anywhere else online. so that just seemed kind of shady. why lie about something like that??

-0.5 for no team page and -0.5 for weird images of ceo online (see bottom)

+0.5 for good, well known advisors

-0.5 for fake reviews on website

July 2021 update: I like that they removed most of the obviously fake reviews and just put in media quotes and quotes from real people. I found them on Trustpilot but it seems that they’re having issues here now, maybe they’re out of kits, but their score was only 4.0/5.0 which doesn’t seem great. Overall, I’m giving Dadi an extra +0.5 points here

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 legacy was better.

LEGACY: 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 while dadi made it extremely simple for me to understand and showed simple visuals of my scores.

cost of analysis only (incl morphology): $195

July 2021 update: I like that they totally overhauled their results and now include DNA Fragmentation which is super cool! I’ve updated this +0.5

DADI: 3.5/5

I didn’t like that you have to pay extra to get a full analysis, otherwise you only get volume, count, and concentration which don’t really mean much. they don’t test motility by default which is the most important thing to test for, so this was a -1.

You also don’t get a detailed analysis, you just get high level scores. on the one hand, it tells you almost everything you need to know but i feel more secure with all the details, same at as a clinic. this was a -0.5

they have a video of your sperm which is a +0.5 because it’s pretty cool!

Finally, you can’t choose to only do analysis, which was a -0.5 since you HAVE to have your sperm frozen. what if you don’t want to freeze it? someone e-mailed to tell me that if you only want analysis, and you e-mail them asking to cancel the freezing subscription immediately, they’ll just refund you the full amount you paid. it doesn’t make sense to me but thought I’d share….

Cost of analysis only (incl morphology): $199 + $99 = $300

July 2021 update: It seems they are testing motility by default now, although you still have to pay extra for morphology and access to nurses, which Legacy offers for free. So I want to add +0.5 points but I find their report so much less helpful than Legacy’s so I’m going to keep it as-is instead of adding and then removing 0.5 points. I just don’t think their report is particularly useful if you really want to know your sperm parameters!

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)

July 2021 update: No change

DADI: 4/5

there’s nothing wrong with the way dadi freezes. they use a company that has been around for a long time called New England Cryogenic Center and it seems very reputable, the head of the clinic is one of their advisors and her name is dr. grace centola, she seems very qualified.

+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

-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 freeze 3 vials no matter what, which is fine, but it just means you’ll probably get less vials than legacy.

July 2021 update: Added +0.5 because I think that I was a little harsh when giving them a -1 for not having redundancy for their clinic

PRICE

LEGACY: 4.0/5

I thought legacy’s pricing was fine but not as cheap as dadi’s. it costs $195 for the analysis and then you can buy 5 years of storage for $495.

-1.5 because their annual plan is more expensive than dadi ($145 vs. $99) and because on average, they are about 10% more expensive than dadi for long-term storage

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

total cost:

6 months: $90

1 year: $145

2 years: $290 (145/year)

5 years: $495 ($99/year)

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

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

July 2021 update: They do now offer payment in instalments, so I removed my -0.5

DADI: 4.5/5

overall they have good pricing for storage and actually while they list the storage at $99/year you get a 10% discount if you prepay so really it’s more like $90, which is the rate i used for the calculations below

-0.5 because they have a $300 withdrawal fee

6 months: N/A

total cost:

1 year: $100 (included in the cost of your $200 analysis)

2 years: $190 ($95/year)

5 years: $450 ($90/year)

10 years: $900 ($90/year)

50 years: $4,500 ($90/year)

July 2021 update: They do now offer payment in instalments

overall:

Legacy is better than Dadi for sperm testing, especially if you want a detailed repot and care about things like morphology or DNA fragmentation.

Legacy is better than Dadi for QUALITY of sperm freezing, especially since they do all these additional tests and store your sperm in multiple locations

Dadi is better than Legacy for PRICE of sperm freezing, especially if you’re only freezing for a year or two. If you’re freezing for 5 or more years, they’re comparable, although Dadi will still be about 10% cheaper

July 2021 edit: It seems you can get sperm freezing for free with Legacy if you have insurance. I haven’t tried it myself so please let me know if it works for you!

Prologue:

July 2021 update: I thought these photos of the Dadi CEO were super funny but I think they were just distracting up top, so I moved them down here! I still think they’re really funny! But maybe not for someone who is handling your sperm……..

bonus content of dadi’s CEO tom smith

tom smith dadi CEO
dadi CEO tom smith

Legacy vs. Dadi fertility report comparison

What’s in a male fertility report or a semen analysis? A lot of you have asked me, and so I thought I’d show you a couple of the reports that I’ve received from Dadi and Legacy after I did sperm testing and sperm freezing!

Conclusion: I found Dadi’s report to be simpler and cleaner, while I found Legacy’s report to be more comprehensive and personalized. For sperm testing, I got significantly better value for money with Legacy.

As a result, I think that if you care about understanding your results then Legacy’s fertility report is a much better choice, whereas if you just care about making sure your results are OK/not OK then Dadi is fine.

Take a look at the differences below.

Legacy:

Legacy provided me with an 11-page report, covering:

  1. My overall fertility assessment
  2. A breakdown of each of my main factors and relevant resources
  3. An explanation of the vials I had frozen (including post-thaw analysis)
  4. DNA fragmentation analysis (I paid extra for this)
  5. A personalized recommendation that had been
  6. Links to additional resources
  7. A detailed chart showing WHO values for semen analysis

I spent all this time taking screenshots until I realized Legacy has a sample report available on their website (although it wasn’t super intuitive to find). But you can see my report below anyway!

What I liked and didn’t like about Legacy’s fertility report:

  1. Everything is super detailed and feels comprehensive. You can see your result, how it compares to the normal ranges, and an example of something you can do to improve your results (This made me feel better for morphology, where I was below the normal range)
  2. It included post-freezing analysis. After they froze my sperm, they put it into 4 vials and then did a post-thaw analysis, which I think is amazing since it makes sure that I can use the sample in the future.
  3. I could do DNA Fragmentation analysis. I’ve only seen this at Legacy, and this was just a super cool data point to have to help me understand if I had DNA damage in my sperm. I had to pay extra for this ($195), but they explained that this typically costs $300-$500 at a clinic since it’s an advanced analysis.
  4. It included personalized recommendations. This is a really nice touch; in this case, I had round cells in my sample which I was able to research. I only got one recommendation, I don’t know how many you’d usually get.
  5. It included complimentary access to fertility experts. I was able to speak with their Chief Medical Officer (!) Dr. Ramy Abou Ghayda, who was amazing and walked me through everything, at no cost. They also offered to send me a 2nd kit free of charge if I was worried about anything.
  6. It felt very busy and I didn’t know where to focus. There is so much content on every page that it’s a lot of material to absorb, understand, and process. While I feel like I got my money’s worth and more, I think they could learn from how simply and cleanly Dadi presents their information.

What I liked and didn’t like about Dadi’s fertility report:

Dadi provided me with a web-based results that was about 1 page of content.

Dadi’s fertility analysis was cleaner (I like their colours), but also much simpler. They’re very focused on freezing, so the analysis almost feels like an afterthought.

  1. The report is very simple. In my case, I got 4 numbers without much context. I couldn’t really understand if these were good or bad results without further research.
  2. They froze 3 vials, which is nice, but they showed me “pre-freeze motile sperm”, so I wasn’t sure what that number looks like “post-freeze”. I really appreciated that Legacy offered that.
  3. Sperm video. Although mine wasn’t showing for some reason, I like that they usually show you a video of your sperm. You can actually see it on their website here, around halfway down.
  4. They told me I was “good to go”, which was reassuring, although again, I didn’t really know if my numbers were good or bad! Even in their ‘detailed report’, my numbers seemed pretty low across the board according to their WHO percentiles so it didn’t really feel like I was super good to go.
  5. They make it easy to freeze. I liked that they offered discounts for additional years of storage, although they only freeze your vials in one location (New England Cryogenic Center in Marlborough, MA)
  6. No morphology analysis. Here, I didn’t pay the extra $99 that would have gotten me morphology analysis as well as access to nurses.
  7. Nothing complimentary! I was a little bummed that I would have to pay more money for access to their specialists.

How do Legacy and Dadi compare to a traditional semen analysis?

I’m not finding my old semen analysis that I got done locally, but here’s more or less what my report looked like. Needless to say these are a BIG step up from getting it at a local clinic! I remember I had to wait about 3 days for my results, and getting someone on the phone was a pain. Plus, the inconvenience of having to go to a clinic to test was NOT ideal!!

Fertility — GRAHAM TRONC MEDICAL

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

meetfellow.com new kids on the block: my review

someone sent me this link a few days ago and it looks like there is a new company in town!!! super cool

the brand: good

i look the look and fellow its simple and clean. why does everyone brand want to have a generic black guy or ambiguous guy in their marketing? is this some new branding agency thing? i dont get it, is this really what they think we look like? i dont hang out on the tub when masturbating lolllll

process: slow

it seems slower than other brands ive seen in this space. why 10 days?? every other company that does sperm testing (legacy, sppare.me, yo, even cryochoice) are within a week, and yo is instantaneous.

the kit: good

but i like the way the it is designed, it looks simple and easy to use

the price: okay

theyre cheaper than sppare.me once you factor in morphology

theyre more expensive than legacy

theyre way cheaper than cryochoice

overall price point seems okay

the service: for doctors?

this was interesting to me, seems like they are really focusing on the service for doctors which makes sense, i havent seen anyone else do that

CryoChoice: what do you think?

i read about CryoChoice seriously for the first time in a daily beast article and so i checked out their website. honestly they look fine but WHAT IS UP WITH THIS PHOTO!!!

super creepy…….

anyway so here are my thoughts:

-their pricing is $595, which is higher than sppare.me, legacy, dadi or yo by FAR

-good customer service, they were responsive when i wrote in and they claim to have seven days a week, i like that

-they have morphology as an ADDITIONAL service for $100, so actually you’re paying $695 for a full semen analysis (sppare.me also does this; legacy includes morphology; dadi only does volume and count; yo only tests count)

-annual storage is $149 so about the same as other companies

-so overall i guess it’s not clear to me why i would pick them over any of the other companies i wrote about it. but if you work at cryochoice hit me up i’d love to try your service! maybe im missing something?

legacy vs dadi vs sppare.me sperm analysis

ok so i figured i might as well do a round-up of my thought on sperm ANALYSIS for anyone else who is going through a similar journey! i realized i am not alone – you have millions of couples trying to have kids and — NEWS FLASH — men are 50% of the equation for hetero couples! so everyone should be testing their sperm.

now of course it depends what you are looking for, but overall, legacy was the clear winner for me. if you have any other recommendations for companies to try please send them my way, i know there are a few like fairfax cryobank or cryochoice that i didn’t try but i did try legacy, sppare.me, dadi, and yo.

i’ll start by talking about the at-home sperm analysis options. i’ll do a separate post on at-home sperm freezing. note: the prices below are not totally comprehensive, so check out the full reviews for the details.

Legacy: https://spermfreezing.home.blog/2019/12/01/legacy/

Sppare.me: https://spermfreezing.home.blog/2019/11/10/sppareme/

Dadi: https://spermfreezing.home.blog/2019/11/24/dadikit/

Yo: https://spermfreezing.home.blog/2019/10/27/trying-a-test-at-home-yo/

Legacy
195
  • Best for analysis & freezing
Sparre.me
250
  • Good for analysis & freezing
Dadi
199
  • Good for basic analysis & freezing
Yo
75
  • Best for a basic analysis

For analysis:

#1: Legacy – as detailed as getting your analysis at a clinic
includes volume, count, concentration, motility, morphology
includes lifestyle recommendations tailored to you

#2: Yo!basic analysis but cheap and fast
includes count & concentration

#3: Sppare.me – also detailed, but you can’t get analysis done separately
includes volume, count, concentration, motility, and (optional for +$100) morphology
you can’t do analysis separately and requires an std test

#4: Dadikit – basic analysis, can’t get analysis done separately
includes volume, count, concentration
you can’t do analysis separately, and there is a fee to cancel storage

The Best Male Fertility Kits: Legacy vs Dadi vs Fellow vs Sppare.me vs Yo Sperm

I confided in a colleague recently that I was running a male fertility website, and he DIED laughing!!! But here’s the real deal: there is NOTHING more important to most men than being able to have kids. I’ve already written about my experience going to a clinic in Austin.

Below I want to write the most comprehensive review of male fertility kits that I’ve personally tried and used. I share more about me below, and I’d love to hear from you! I’m at spermfreezing (at) gmail (dot) com.

Legacy vs. Fellow vs. Dadi vs. Yo vs. Sppare.me

I’ll break down each of their services, one by one, but here are the rankings you need to know:

#1. Legacy is the best option. They are the most credible, the highest-quality, the safest, and the most versatile option.

#2 Fellow is the second-best option. They provide a rigorous, high-quality semen analysis at an affordable rate, but don’t offer sperm freezing.

#3 Dadi is the third-best option. They provide a credible and comprehensive bundle of testing and freezing.

#4 Yo is the fourth-best option. They are a cost-effective option that is suitable for many men.

#5 Sppare.me is the fifth-best option. They are a good all-round service, but are consistently outmatched by at least one competitor on quality, price, and service.

Legacy vs. Fellow vs. Dadi vs. Yo vs. Sppare.me, Comparison Chart

Who should use these services?

In general, these services are perfect for men who fall into these categories:

  1. Single men who want to make sure they can have healthy children in the future
  2. Men in heterosexual relationships who are trying to conceive (TTC) now or will be TTC soon
  3. Men in same-sex relationships who will use sperm with a surrogate
  4. Men facing medical issues like cancer or work in high-risk jobs
  5. Men planning on getting a vasectomy (or a vasectomy reversal)
  6. Older men who have remarried and may be considering having kids again
  7. Men who don’t have to pay for the service!

LGBTQ and sperm freezing?

Should gay men be freezing their sperm? ABSOLUTELY!!! If you’re going to use a surrogate, like I am planning to, then being able to test and freeze your sperm is extremely valuable.

The question is: how do you want to decide whose sperm to use? That’s a topic for another day and one that my partner and I have discussed a lot!!!

But ultimately you will be using IUI or IVF with the surrogate. If you can afford IVF, it’s great because then you can use ICSI to select the sperm, you can PGS (Pre-Genetic Screening) for the embryos to screen for the healthiest ones, and you can make sure that you’re using your best sperm.

Most importantly, STDs can affect your fertility! So don’t take any chances, especially if you’re sexually active.

Should transgender women freeze sperm?

Yes! Do it before you start HRT because these hormones will affect your fertility and block the production of sperm.

What I’ve learned is that if you stop HRT, MOST OF THE TIME you can start producing sperm again. What’s not known is how long you can be on HRT before that option is no longer available to you. So freeze your sperm while you can!

How do at-home male fertility services work?

This is what I love about al of these products!! You DON’T have to go to a clinic, you you DON’T have to deal with any judgmental looks, and you DON’T have to deal with the awkwardness of going to masturbate at a clinic. You can do it entirely at home!

Best of all, all these options are significantly cheaper than most fertility clinics I’ve seen. One doctor explained to me that fertility clinics make their money from IVF, so they just don’t care very much about performing a semen analysis. So they charge high rates for a service that’s very simple for them to perform.

What should I look for with at-home sperm testing or at-home sperm freezing?

Here are the factors that I think you should consider:

  1. Price: You want to make sure you are paying $200 or less for a semen analysis, and $150/year or less for cryostorage. This is already a lot cheaper than clinics I’ve seen!
  2. Speed: This is nice, but not critical for most men. How quickly can you get your results? Keep in mind you need to consider shipping time, return time, and then analysis time, so the whole process will probably take about a week.
  3. Vials: If you’re freezing your sperm, how many vials are you freezing? Generally speaking, the more, the better, since it gives you more flexibility!
  4. Tele-health: Can you speak to a doctor once you have your results? If so, is it an extra fee?
  5. Storage: If you’re opting for cryostorage, are you getting single-site storage or multi-site storage? While risks are low across the board, if you’re freezing for multiple years, why take any risks? Pacific Fertility Center had a major meltdown a couple of years ago, as did University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center
  6. Post-thaw: Will they check to make sure your sperm froze well? The best services will do a “post thaw” check after 24 hours, where they thaw a tiny sample and make sure everything went well. I didn’t want to take any risks here, so I made sure I got this.
  7. FSA/HSA & Insurance: Will you have to pay out of pocket or can this be reimbursed by someone else?

You’ll notice I don’t care a lot about gimmicks, like having a video of your sperm, or having really nice graphics, or a beautiful brand.

AT THE END OF THE DAY: you want to find the company that places the most emphasis on quality. Because no matter how nice the website, how slick the kit, or how beautiful the instruction booklet you receive, at the end of the day what really matters is whether your sperm is safe, secure, and can be used in the future!!!

Legacy vs Dadi vs Fellow vs Sppare.me vs Yo Sperm: The Best Male Fertility Kits

Why is Legacy the best option for at-home sperm testing and freezing? Review of Legacy’s male fertility kit

I wrote a really nice piece comparing Legacy vs Sppare.me and comparing Legacy vs. Dadi.

In general, I am a big fan of the company, I really like their team, and it is the most credible in the space. They were at Harvard, they have doctors on the team, they’re covered by insurance, etc. all of which are great signs.

I don’t think their brand is as slick as some other competitors, their price is not always the cheapest, but from their product it is clear to me that they place a premium on quality and security that made me want to work with them.

Why is Fellow the second best option for at-home sperm testing? Review of Fellow’s male fertility kit

I haven’t done a proper comparison of Fellow before, but in general I like what they’re doing. They don’t feel as “refined” as other companies in overall look and feel (probably because they are younger), but they are clearly focused on quality, have set up their own lab, and are clearly working with a lot of doctors and clinics which is a big plus in my book.

Why is Dadi the third-best option for at-home sperm testing and freezing? Review of Dadi’s male fertility kit

You can see how I compare Dadi vs. Sppare.me and how I compare Dadi vs. Legacy. In general, I think it’s a solid company that has invested a lot in brand and a kit, but one that I don’t trust as much in terms of overall quality compared to Fellow or Legacy.

I think the founder of a company has a BIG impact on how it turns out, and someone who previously founded a digital sticker company just doesn’t feel like the person I want to trust with my sperm. They have a lot of gimmicks like “two factor authentication” or showing videos of your sperm, and they have a fake review score on their website, which rubs me the wrong way (Fellow does the same).

That said, the service itself seems good, and at a reasonable price. It is still a better overall option than Sppare.me, providing a better service at lower cost.

Why is Yo Sperm the fourth-best option for at-home sperm testing? Review of Yo Sperm’s male fertility kit

I like what they’re trying to do here, by making a simple, at-home option for men to understand their sperm. And the $70 price point is attractive. But if you’re already investing in doing this, then why wouldn’t you pay a little more for a clinic-grade analysis, actually done at a clinic, and ideally freeze your sperm? You won’t get the level of precision with Yo Sperm that you would with the other male fertility companies, so ultimately they land at #4. You get what you pay for!

Why is Sppare.me the worst option for at-home sperm testing and freezing? Review of Sppare.me’s male fertility kit

I want to be clear that I don’t think Sppare.me is doing anything WRONG. Yes they have a lot of work to do on branding etc. and like Dadi, they don’t list their team on the website (which always makes me feel like they are hiding something!) BUT the product is good, the price point is reasonable, and the service overall seems reputable. The fact is though, they don’t have anything where they are more competitive than anyone else. I have no reason to pick them over any of the 4 other companies!

I HOPE THIS HELPS!!! I really enjoyed writing this and hope I’ll write more soon, but I would love more ideas and inspiration from y’all!!!


Learn more about who I am:

I grew up in a very normal, nuclear family in Texas. We’re not in a particularly liberal part of the state (my mom and dad voted for Trump) and I grew up in an environment that was not particularly accepting of men like me. I grew up enjoying ballet, cooking, and was fascinated by my mom’s jewelry. I knew from a very young age that I was not going to be the kind of MANLY MAN that my father wanted to be, particularly as I wasn’t really attracted to women, no matter how much I tried.

But being gay, which took me decades to come to terms with, doesn’t meant that you don’t care about being a dad!! I used to dream of having my own kids, I always wanted one boy and one girl, and it took a long time for me to find role models who had families of their own with their partners. Believe it or not, Tom Ford (from Austin) was a big inspiration for me to accept my own sexuality because he was so open about being gay.

Why I care about male fertility:

And so the real reason I’ve kept up this website, even though it’s really just been for fun, has been because this topic matters for so many men, including men like me. I think testing your sperm matters. I think freezing your sperm matters. I think KNOWING ABOUT your sperm matters!!!!

Thank you to those of you who have written in, to support my work, or even to offer to send me a kit to try out myself.

So today I want to write the most comprehensive comparison of male fertility companies that exist today. Here goes!!!!

Josh F. is a writer based in Austin, Texas. In his free time, he enjoys spending time with his partner and writing about fertility! Reach him anytime at spermfreezing AT gmail DOT com.

experience 5: legacy sperm testing and sperm freezing at home kit

ok, so i wanted to make sure i tested out all the kits that i could find! there are a few others but i think this is probably enough for now. so i saw a few articles talking about legacy and decided to give it a try. here are my thoughts below:

overall:

i LOVED legacy!!!! by far the best experience i’ve had so far. super fast, super easy, great results, great quality, at the same price point as other products. i don’t think they do a good enough job explaining why they are better than other products because it wasn’t clear to me until i actually went through the process.

something i hadn’t considered is that they offer an FSA product! so i actually got it for free through my employer before the end of the year and you probably could do it using FSA/HSA as well. not sure if other companies offer this.

and this seems to be the only company that actually lists their team – you can tell these guys (and gals!) are super legit

price: $195 + $145 for storage

pros:

-loved the website, the kit etc. felt very high end with an unboxing experience like i was buying an apple product… for sperm lollll. i posted a fancy photo in addition to the unboxing photos.

– really good analysis, they test for everything (volume count concentration motility morphology), and they even give you personalized recommendations

-super responsive customer service. i had my own client service advisor who i called and e-mailed!! thank you davide!

-the company is super legit. they started at harvard and won a bunch of awards

-i got the kit in 12 hours! and fedex actually came to pick up and drop off my kit, so i didn’t have to go anywhere like i did with other products

cons:

-the user log-in experience is a bit weird, they give you a CLIENTID which is supposed to keep you anonymous but i kept forgetting it and having to look it up. the online user experience is a bit clunky

-i love the look and feel of the product but it feels a little bit impersonal… also the inside of the box also didn’t feel as premium as the outside which was surprising.

– i found the concept of ‘multi geography storage’ a little confusing but i guess it’s a good thing. it also seems like they store ‘up to 6’ vials which is more than others (i got 5). but i’m not exactly sure how that works compared to other companies.. overall i don’t think they communicate as clearly as others

but overall the best i’ve had so far. if you have other recommendations please send them my way!!! i now have my sperm frozen in 3 different places lolll