When you can ignore a negative pregnancy test
The BabyCenter Editorial Team
If you take a home pregnancy test very soon after you think you may have conceived, a negative result doesn't mean much.
When an egg is fertilized after you ovulate, it takes about a week to travel through the fallopian tube to the uterus. And it's only after a fertilized egg implants in the uterus that your body starts producing the pregnancy hormone hCG (human chorionic gonadotropin), which is what a home pregnancy test is looking for.
A home pregnancy test can only give you a positive result if it detects hCG, says Hope Ricciotti, an associate professor of obstetrics, gynecology, and reproductive biology at Harvard Medical School and a community editor at BeWell.com. So even if you did conceive, if you test too soon, you'll receive a negative result because the fertilized egg wouldn't have had time to become implanted.
If you think you know exactly when conception might have occurred and wait until a week after that to test, you may still be testing too soon. Few women know precisely when they ovulate, and it's hard to predict when conception actually takes place, says Ricciotti. "Even though the egg is fertilizable for only 24 hours, sperm can live four or five days, so there's a big window for conception." For example, you could have sex on Monday and conceive after you ovulate on the following Friday.
That's why it's best to wait to use a home pregnancy test until the day you expect your period, if not later. Your best chance of getting an accurate result is to test at least one week after your missed period. "You can reliably expect hCG in the urine by that time," Ricciotti says. (When you do test, make sure you test the right way.)
If you're sure you've waited long enough to test and you're still getting a negative result, you're probably not pregnant. Pregnancy isn't the only reason for a missed period – stress, excessive exercise, and thyroid problems, among other things, can all delay menstruation.
That said, there's a tiny chance that you're pregnant and still testing negative. Like any kind of screening test, home pregnancy tests are occasionally wrong. (And with pregnancy tests, it's more likely for a negative result to be wrong than a positive result.) Also, in very rare cases, a woman's body doesn't produce hCG in high enough amounts to be detectable within the usual timeframe.
If your period is weeks late without a positive test result, talk to your doctor to figure out whether you're pregnant or need help getting your menstrual cycle on track.
If you take a home pregnancy test very soon after you think you may have conceived, a negative result doesn't mean much.
When an egg is fertilized after you ovulate, it takes about a week to travel through the fallopian tube to the uterus. And it's only after a fertilized egg implants in the uterus that your body starts producing the pregnancy hormone hCG (human chorionic gonadotropin), which is what a home pregnancy test is looking for.
A home pregnancy test can only give you a positive result if it detects hCG, says Hope Ricciotti, an associate professor of obstetrics, gynecology, and reproductive biology at Harvard Medical School and a community editor at BeWell.com. So even if you did conceive, if you test too soon, you'll receive a negative result because the fertilized egg wouldn't have had time to become implanted.
If you think you know exactly when conception might have occurred and wait until a week after that to test, you may still be testing too soon. Few women know precisely when they ovulate, and it's hard to predict when conception actually takes place, says Ricciotti. "Even though the egg is fertilizable for only 24 hours, sperm can live four or five days, so there's a big window for conception." For example, you could have sex on Monday and conceive after you ovulate on the following Friday.
That's why it's best to wait to use a home pregnancy test until the day you expect your period, if not later. Your best chance of getting an accurate result is to test at least one week after your missed period. "You can reliably expect hCG in the urine by that time," Ricciotti says. (When you do test, make sure you test the right way.)
If you're sure you've waited long enough to test and you're still getting a negative result, you're probably not pregnant. Pregnancy isn't the only reason for a missed period – stress, excessive exercise, and thyroid problems, among other things, can all delay menstruation.
That said, there's a tiny chance that you're pregnant and still testing negative. Like any kind of screening test, home pregnancy tests are occasionally wrong. (And with pregnancy tests, it's more likely for a negative result to be wrong than a positive result.) Also, in very rare cases, a woman's body doesn't produce hCG in high enough amounts to be detectable within the usual timeframe.
If your period is weeks late without a positive test result, talk to your doctor to figure out whether you're pregnant or need help getting your menstrual cycle on track.
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