Life
It doesn’t matter if you’ve been trying to conceive or avoiding it altogether, taking a pregnancy test is a heart-hammering, nerve-wracking experience.If you’re anxious for a baby and get a negative test result, you may find yourself shaking the stick like a Polaroid trying to will another line to appear. Or if you’re praying that your birth control hasn’t failed you and get a positive result, you may be desperate to make that line disappear. But is it possible? Can a pregnancy test be wrong?
Technically, no. According to U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Women’s Health, home pregnancy tests are almost 99 percent accurate. Mainly because of how they work. As Mayo Clinic explained, home pregnancy tests detect human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) , a hormone that is produced once a fertilized egg implants in your uterus. Pretty straightforward, right? But just because the test detects hCG doesn’t necessarily mean there’s a bun in the oven. There are a few circumstances that could result in an inaccurate pregnancy test result, be it a false positive or a false negative.
What to Expect noted that a very early pregnancy loss, or chemical pregnancy, can cause a false positive pregnancy test. Thought to be the result of a chromosomal abnormality in the fertilized egg, a recent miscarriage can lead the to delayed return of your period. When this happens, your urine may contain traces of hCG, hence the inaccurate reading.
False negatives are also possible and are more common than a false positive according to the Mayo Clinic. However, most of the reasons for a false negative are simple errors in using the test or testing too early. To avoid both a false negative and a false positive, keep these five tips in mind for an accurate HPT read.