We are happy to provide a refund up until your semen analysis kit ships out to you. After your kit ships, we generally cannot provide refunds due to the nature of your sample being stored. If you have questions or concerns, please reach out to support@meetfellow.com.
Should you decide to cancel your storage subscription, your billing cycle will finish the remaining amount of time but will not renew.
Please reach out to us at least two business days prior to your subscription renewing if you wish to cancel it.
If you wish to use your stored sample, we are happy to coordinate with you to ship it a licensed fertility clinic of your choice. We will work with you and the clinic to ensure your sample is shipped with care.
There will be a one-time extraction fee to remove your sample from our storage facility and there will also be a shipping fee associated with the move from our facility to your designated clinic.
If you have any additional questions about this, or if you would like to get an estimate on the shipping cost to your designated clinic, please reach out to us at support@meetfellow.com.
Your cryopreservation subscription will begin as soon as the lab stores your sample within our cryopreservation tank. We will bill the card we have on file and your subscription will automatically renew each year on the annual anniversary for as long as you have your sample stored with us.
We can store any sample that has motile (or swimming) sperm cells inside. While samples that contain more sperm cells increase a likelihood of pregnancy down the road, samples with just a few sperm cells can be stored to attempt a procedure known as ICSI (Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection). This is when fertility specialists take one sperm cell and inject it into an egg to achieve fertilization. We'll let you know inside your fertility report how many cells we're storing with recommendations tailored to you.
This is a great question. Freezing sperm is like an insurance policy that ensures your sperm is healthy and available when you need to use it. While freezing sperm is a great option for all men, there are groups of men who may benefit from storing the most. These are: men who may be undergoing chemotherapy, cancer treatment, in high risk jobs, military, or those undergoing gender confirmation surgery.
Sperm cells that are thawed after freezing typically show a reduction in motility (the ability to swim) by about 25%-50%. Traditionally, sperm cells need to swim to reach an egg. However, with the advancement of technology, experts can now take one sperm cell and inject it into an egg, regardless of its motility. This procedure is called ICSI.
We cryogenically freeze your sample in three vials at -320 ˚F. At this temperature, the cells are suspended (they're alive but are not using any energy). These vials are labeled with a cryptic code to keep your identity safe and then are locked in a tamper proof and secure canister. Our lab is video surveillance monitored 24/7 and the individual storage canisters have a high tech alarm that ensures the protection of your sample.
Fellow's Semen Analysis + Cryopreservation is recommended by doctors around the country because we meet the same rigorous standards that traditional clinics follow. However, Fellow provides convenience and comfort as you can provide the sample from home.
Sperm stored at -320 ˚F can be viable for decades, if not longer. The longest time between freezing and use ever reported is over 25 years but it's possible that sperm frozen for up to 200 years can still be viable.
We'll divide your sample into three vials, giving you three attempts for a pregnancy. Many men choose to store more vials to increase the likelihood of initiating a successful pregnancy. How much you choose will depend on your situation.
Stored sperm can be used for many fertility procedures including IVF (in vitro fertilization), ICSI (Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection), and IUI (Intrauterine Insemination). Which procedure is right for you will depend on many factors including: the number of sperm cells in each vial stored, the number of vials you're storing, the fertility of your partner, your budget, and the number of children you want.
If you do not complete a compliant STI test within 1 year of storing, we can not guarantee that your preferred clinic will accept your sample for a fertility procedure.
Many clinics will only use stored sperm for fertility procedures if the patient has had a virology test for HIV, Hepatitis B & C, HTLV, and Syphilis within 1 year of storing the sample. It is a risk for the clinic to use untested sperm because these conditions can impact the pregnancy and the fetus. This is why Fellow has partnered with a lab to provide you an at-home STI test that is compliant.