That Time we did an at Home Sperm Test

and here’s what happened…

Warning: This blog may contain humor.  I kinda hope it does. 

Second disclaimer: We did get paid for this review.  That being said though, I want to reinforce that this is an honest review, so no holdin’ back. 

Transparency established, let’s talk about testing our “male contribution” at home shall we?

To the dudes, have you ever whipped out your smart phone and thought, “If only I could use this to help my family building endeavors.”  Please don’t answer that.  Well, now you can use your phone to get some valuable insight into your potential contribution or complication when it comes to family building.  Beyond being able to watch people “practice” family building on your phone (I’ve heard there is a lot of that on the internet though I personally have never seen any of it … typing this with Candace in close proximity), the YO Home Sperm Test built by Medical Electronic Systems (MES)can actually transform your phone into a state-of-the-art sperm-sleuthing medical instrument.  And, they made it SUPER easy to use.  Short summary, YO tells you exactly how to cultivate a sample you generate, how to conduct the test, how to interpret the results.  And, as a bonus, they have trivia while you wait for the results.  BONUS!  One caveat, YO does not tell you how to cultivate your sample other than it cannot be done through intercourse or with any lubricants.  Don’t worry though gents, you got this!  You’ve been practicing for how many years?

As it turns out, us gents are offered several opportunities to “exercise” our reproductive skills in the most inopportune of places as we journey along our family building path.  Bedroom, obviously.  Kitchen, only if the counter is clean … hell, I don’t care.  Back seat of a car, totally permissible.  Doctor’s office with your spouse and staff waiting outside the door and a waiting room full of people, less than ideal.  RE location while your dearly beloved is under general anesthesia during a retrieval, next to impossible.  Lots of pressure right.  Inner monologue, “Man, I gotta get this right.”  “How can I be in here doing this while she is literally undergoing an operative procedure?” 

Alright, so if you are at the “testing your sperm count” stage, or even if you have gone to Hades and back in your family building odyssey, when it is time to generate your “sample,” your “cup of life,” to determine how many swimmers you are making, the pressure is less intense than during a retrieval.  It is not absent though, because you will likely be outside your typical “self-love” element.  When you get your results back, and if they are a bit low, your brain can start playing tricks on you.  “Man, if I wasn’t so rushed feeling or stressed about this, I bet I would have had a different result.”  This is the void that YO has non-intrusively filled so well.

So in order to give the most accurate review, I took one for the team and tried it out, YO’s at-home sperm test kit.  First things first, Candace downloaded the app on my phone.  Hey, don’t call me a slacker!  Family building is a mutual effort.  Since I will be doing nearly all of the incredible strenuous “work” for this, it was the least she could do.  We opened the app and there was a clear option to learn what the “F” I or we were supposed to do.  The instructions were incredibly clear, though, admittedly, I watched them again once I had my sample ready.  I gave Candace the ‘ol “be back in a few,” look and scurried off. No real stress this time, I was home, I was in my comfortable surroundings, and there were no feeling of eyes and people focused on how long I would take. 

 

Here’s a video—not of me, come on people.  But of how it works:

After reflecting on the joy in my heart from our wedding day, I had a sample ready.  Then, it was all following a recipe.  One really cool thing about this that I would encourage everyone to do is to do the post “sample generation” steps together.  So much of infertility diagnostics and treatment feels isolated, it was really cool to be able to do my sperm analysis together.  First, you put this thinning agent into your sample that turns it a pinkish color—umm that’s weird.  Then … you wait.  Believe it or not, I was super concerned about accidently knocking this over.  It was kind of awkward to decide where the sample cup should be placed during this waiting period as it doesn’t really seem like you should have it just chillin’ anywhere. 

 

We made it through though.  And, we played trivia while waiting.  Not necessarily the trivia you would play at your local wing and beer joint, but still, highly entertaining. 

While waiting, I attached the super techy, cool looking analysis gizmo to my celly.  Then, I took the pipette and drew a sample up, pushed some of the sample onto the imaging slide, inserted that into the analysis gizmo, and waited.  After a relatively short period of time, the analysis was complete. 

I was super-human!  Okay, that is far from true.  In reality, I got results that were consistent with the results I have received from the numerous tests that I have undergone through the years.  After that, Candace and I watched the video generated during my sample analysis which was a really cool thing to do.  I could see each of my little swimmers.  Honestly, I kind of felt bad for all of the “troops” lost during my teenage years.  I blame Saved by the Bell’s Tiffani Amber Theissen for that.

Anyway, my experience with the YO Home Sperm Test was easy to do and informative, albeit still a bit awkward.  I truly feel it can be a valuable tool for couples looking to affordably get more insight into the potential challenges they may face regarding family building, but this should be used as a tool to get a bird’s eye glimpse of things, your fertility specialist will be the one who will ultimately steer the ship regarding your course of treatment. This app will give you a small bit of insight on both count and mobility but not morphology.  Either way, I am pretty sure we spent 150.00 to 175.00 on average for previous analysis. This one will set you back 59.95, which is definitely affordable.

Alright, so here is how you can get your hands on the YO Home Sperm Test Give-away:

Go to the give-away on Raffle Copter below and complete as many tasks as you are comfortable doing. The more you do, the better your chances. Good luck and we will pick a winner next week!

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 This giveaway is now closed. Congrats to our winner! If you are totes bummed you didn’t win, I am really sorry we wanted you to win for reals.  BUT you can swing on by the YO Sperm test site for details on how you can purchase one. 

 

*While we have received compensation to review this product from YO Home Sperm Test, all opinions are of my own.*

 

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