You can get a false positive result on a home pregnancy test
Mar 28 '00 (Updated Jan 22 '01)
The Bottom Line Yes, you can get a false positive result on a pregnancy test. Find out why...
The consensus of Epinions members on this subject seems to be that while a negative home pregnancy test (HPT) result may be wrong, a positive HPT result is always right. Unfortunately, this is not true. While a false positive on an HPT is not nearly as common as a false negative, it can still happen.
HPTs work by detecting the amount of human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG), a hormone produced during pregnancy, in a woman's urine. Every HPT's instructions tell you when to read the test. But what happens if you get a negative result, toss the stick in the trash, and then notice two hours later that it has turned to a positive? "Maybe I tested too early," you think, "and my HCG level is so low that it took longer to come up positive!" But this is not the case. After the specified waiting period, a HPT can develop an "evaporation line" that looks like a positive test result. Your HPT is not accurate after that specified period, and the positive result that shows up two hours should not be relied on.
Women who are taking fertility drugs can also come up with a positive HPT result even if they are not pregnant. Many infertility patients have an HCG injection to trigger ovulation. This HCG remains detectable in your body for several days, and a test taken while the injected HCG is still in your system will simply measure the HCG that was injected, not any HCG produced due to pregnancy. To rule this out, many women start taking daily HPTs about 11 days after an HCG injection. A positive result may mean pregnancy or may indicate residual injected HCG, but if you get a negative result followed by positive results, it's a good sign that the injected HCG has left your system and the positive test is accurate.
Good luck!
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