How Soon Can I Take a Pregnancy Test?

Many women want to find out if they’re pregnant the second they’ve conceived. Unfortunately, technology is not at that point yet. However, new tests will allow us to test for pregnancy even before you’ve missed your period.

How Soon Can I Take a Pregnancy Test?

All pregnancy tests look for the presence of hCG, or human chorionic gonadotropin. It is a hormone produced by the placenta during pregnancy. It is not produced until implantation (when the fertilized egg attaches to the uterine wall). Implantation does not occur until 6-12 days after ovulation. So the soonest you can take a pregnancy test and get a positive test result is seven days after ovulation, though many women will get a false negative at this time.

I know it’s tough, but you should try to wait to take a pregnancy test until 10-12 days after ovulation. Remember, even if you wait that long, you may still show a negative result. If you miss your period, you should retest. About 90% of women will get a positive result the first day after they miss their period--but 10% of women will test negative even though they are pregnant. If you’re trying to get pregnant and get a negative test result, you should still avoid alcohol, cigarettes, and recreational drugs, just in case you are actually pregnant.

Home Pregnancy Tests

All home pregnancy tests are urine tests that measure the amount of hCG in your urine. You can find early home pregnancy tests that claim to give positive results seven days after ovulation in grocery stores, drug stores, and pharmacies.

There are two different types of home pregnancy tests: dip and midstream.

• In a dip test, you fill a clean, provided container with urine and hold a test strip in the urine for a specific amount of time.
• In a midstream test, you hold the test in your stream of urine.

Both types of tests are equally reliable, but you need to read the enclosed instructions to make sure you take the test correctly. Many false negatives are due to incorrectly reading the instructions.

Can My Doctor Give Me a More Accurate Pregnancy Test?

Yes. Your doctor may be able to perform a blood test that can pick up hCG amounts earlier than urine tests. However, even blood tests can not tell you whether or not you’re pregnant until 6-8 days after you ovulate. Since the hormone hCG is not even produced until implantation, early pregnancy tests at home may let you know whether or not you're pregnant seven days after you ovulate.

Blood Tests

Blood tests are usually much more accurate than urine tests. In fact, if you were to take a home pregnancy test, which indicated a negative, but you still felt like you were pregnant, a blood test may actually show a positive. Blood tests can determine a pregnancy as early as six to eight days after ovulation. How does this happen?

Both urine and blood tests actually measure the amount of the pregnancy hormone, hCG, that is in your body. The hCG hormone levels should rise significantly in the first weeks of a pregnancy. There are two kinds of blood tests that can be administered in your doctor's office.

Quantitative Blood Tests

This test is also referred to as a beta hCG test. It is the most accurate blood test, measuring hCG levels exactly. Because it is such an accurate test, it can pick up very low levels of this pregnancy maintaining hormone.

Qualitative Blood Tests

This test isn't as accurate as the beta hCG test. It will not give the hormone levels, but instead it provides a positive or negative answer to the pregnancy test. It is similar to a simple urine test.

In Conclusion

Most home pregnancy tests are accurate if you test around the time you miss your period. If you try an early pregnancy test and test negative, you may still be pregnant. If you miss your period, you should take another home pregnancy test around the time you should get your period. You may be surprised with a positive reading.

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