Maybe you can’t wait to have a baby. Or maybe that’s the last thing you’re hoping for. Show
Cleveland Clinic is a non-profit academic medical center. Advertising on our site helps support our mission. We do not endorse non-Cleveland Clinic products or services. Policy Either way, if you think you might be pregnant, you need to know for sure. But what are the odds a positive pregnancy test might be wrong? “Home urine pregnancy tests are pretty reliable,” says Ob/Gyn Jonathan Emery, MD. “But there are some reasons you might get a false-positive result.” Dr. Emery explains when and why a pregnancy test might give a false positive — and what you can do to make sure the stick doesn’t lie. How do pregnancy tests work?When you get pregnant, your body produces a hormone called human chorionic gonadotropin, or hCG. Home pregnancy tests look for that hormone in your urine. If hCG is present, you should get a positive test result when you pee on a stick. But hCG levels start out very low and increase over time. If you take the test too soon after conceiving, it might say you’re not pregnant when you really are. In other words, timing can lead to a false negative. But what about a false positive? False positives aren’t super common, Dr. Emery says. But they’re not impossible. Some potential causes include: Early miscarriage or chemical pregnancyYou took a pregnancy test and got two lines. (Positive!) But a few days later, your period arrived in force. What gives? The most common reason this happens is an early pregnancy loss, also known as a chemical pregnancy. In this case, the test was accurate — there was a pregnancy, but it wasn’t a viable one, Dr. Emery explains. “It’s not technically false since a very early pregnancy did occur,” he says. “But this is the most common reason that a pregnancy test might appear to have been false.” Fertility medications“A lot of fertility treatments involve taking hCG injections,” Dr. Emery says. If you’ve been taking fertility medications, that hCG might still be floating around your system. That could trigger a positive pregnancy test, even if you’re not pregnant. To avoid that mix-up, wait at least two weeks after your last hCG injection to take a home pregnancy test, he says. Recent pregnancyIf you were recently pregnant, you might still have leftover hCG in your system. After childbirth, miscarriage or treatment for ectopic pregnancy, the hormone can remain in your body for up to four to six weeks, Dr. Emery says. “That could lead to a positive pregnancy test when your body just hasn’t cleared the hCG yet.” User errorHome pregnancy tests aren’t especially hard to use. But you still have to pay attention since a mistake can lead to incorrect results. If you wait too long to read the results, for example, or use more drops of urine than the test calls for? You might want to take the answer with a grain of salt. “If you don’t follow all the instructions, any results — positive or negative — could be false,” Dr. Emery says. Pregnancy test accuracy: How to get results you can trustLuckily, false positives are rare. And there are steps you can take to make sure your home pregnancy test gives you results you can trust.
Home pregnancy tests are inexpensive, private and quite reliable, Dr. Emery adds. “People often don’t believe what they’re seeing. But if you’ve used the test correctly and done it at the right time, it’s probably true.” It can be incredibly stressful when you don’t know for sure if you are—or aren’t—pregnant. It’s common to want the answer as soon as possible, so your first thought might be to take a pregnancy test. While many tests boast a high accuracy percentage, it is still possible to get either a false positive or a false negative result. Here we’ll discuss how pregnancy tests work and how inaccurate results can happen. How a Home Pregnancy Test WorksWhen you get pregnant, the fertilized egg moves through the fallopian tube into your uterus, and it implants into the lining of the uterine wall; this is calledimplantation. After implantation occurs, your body starts to produce
a hormone called human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG). A blood test can detect the hCG pregnancy hormone about two to three days after implantation, which is just over two weeks from your previous period. Early urine pregnancy tests are now highly sensitive and can detect hCG only five to
six days after implantation, which is about three weeks from your last period and nearly one week before your next period is due. However, it’s recommended to wait until you’ve missed a period before you take a home pregnancy test to ensure you get the correct results you need. If you take a test before your period is due, it’s only 76% accurate, but if you wait to take a urine pregnancy test until your missed period, it’s 99% accurate. Typically, your hCG levels
will double every forty-eight to seventy-two hours from the time of implantation until you’re about ten weeks pregnant when the levels decrease and level out for the remainder of your pregnancy. This is whythe results are more likely to be accurate if you wait a few more days to take a test. Most
pregnancy tests work by holding the test stick in your urine stream or dipping it into a container of your urine. If the test detects a minimum concentration level of hCG, a positive result will occur. Any hCG concentration less than that level will show a negative result. Schedule a Free Pregnancy Test How You Can Get a False Positive Pregnancy Test
A home pregnancy testcan show a positive result when you aren’t pregnant. This is known as a false positive, and they are rare, but they do happen. The following are the most common reasons why you may get a false positive: 1. Some medications can cause a false positive pregnancy test.Fertility drugs
containing hCG can also lead to a false positive. Other medications that can cause a false positive result include:
2. A very early miscarriage occurredAfter a pregnancy loss happens, there can still be detectable levels of hCG in your body at the time of a test. Approximately 50-75% of all miscarriages occur a couple of days after implantation, which is known as a
“chemical pregnancy.” Since women get their periods as expected, many women don’t even realize they were pregnant unless they took an early pregnancy test. 3. You have a molar or ectopic pregnancy.You will get a positive pregnancy test with
a molar orectopic pregnancy because there is a fertilized egg that causes your body to produce hCG. However, in 99% of molar pregnancies, a fetus never develops—only abnormal tissue forms. An ectopic pregnancy implants outside of your uterus and is a medical emergency
that requires immediate attention. 4. An evaporation line looks like a positive result.Sometimes, a faint, colorless evaporation line can appear to be a positive result. The best way to avoid this is to read the results no later than the time the directions state. 5. The test is picking up hCG from a previous pregnancy.If you were recently pregnant, you could get a false positive result from the test reading hCG still in your body from your previous pregnancy.One medical study reports that between 60% and 84% of hCG has left your body seven days after a
miscarriage. This means that you could have 40% of pregnancy-level hcG a full week after miscarrying. 6. The test is expired.The chemicals in an expired pregnancy test don’t work the way they’re supposed to, so the test can misread whether or not your urine contains hCG. Always use a test that isn’t expired. How a False Negative Occurs1. You took the test too soon.The hCG concentration levels may not have been high enough for the test to detect. Waiting to take the test one week after you miss your period can help prevent this type of false negative. 2. There was not enough urine, or the urine was diluted.This may have prevented the test from accurately detecting the hCG. To get the best results, use a home pregnancy test first thing in the morning to ensure that your urine is the most concentrated. 3. The test stick is broken or expired.A false positive or a false negative can occur because the test malfunctioned, expired, or because of user error. That is why it is
so important to follow the instructions exactly to get the most accurate results. 4. Your medications are causing a false negative. Certain antihistamines or diuretics can cause a false negative result. 5. There are pregnancy complications.Ectopic pregnancies can also cause a false negative pregnancy test.
Since an ectopic pregnancy is so serious, don’t hesitate to seek medical attention anytime you have pelvic pain. Avail NYC provides free, self-administered pregnancy tests for those facing the possibility of an unexpected pregnancy. If you’re pregnant (or think you may be pregnant) and aren’t sure where to turn, meet with one of our advocates today. Schedule a Free Pregnancy Test Avail NYC exists to be a safe haven for women and men facing an unexpected pregnancy or seeking support after an abortion. We are not a medical provider. How rare is it to get 2 false“False positive pregnancy tests are rare and occur less than 1 percent of the time,” confirms DuMontier. Generally speaking, there will be a contributing factor if you're seeing a false positive pregnancy test. If not, you can assume the test you've used is faulty in some way.
What causes a falseThis is known as a false-positive. A false-positive might happen if you had a pregnancy loss soon after the fertilized egg attached to your uterine lining (biochemical pregnancy) or you take a pregnancy test too soon after taking a fertility drug that contains HCG .
How often are pregnancy tests wrong?Home pregnancy tests are usually accurate, but researchers estimate that up to 5% of tests give a false negative — meaning the test says you aren't pregnant when you actually are. There are a few reasons why you might get a false negative. You might be taking the test too early or after drinking too much water.
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What the chances of getting a false positive pregnancy test
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