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Is It Possible To Get A False Positive Pregnancy Test Result ?

Irrespective of which culture or race that you belong to or what your educational or financial status is, pregnancy is an important turning point in any woman's life. This is indeed something that most women look forward to with a lot of hope and expectations.

In a situation like this, it is obvious that people take the home pregnancy tests with a lot of hope and expectations. The moment they see two lines, they are excited and feel that all their prayers of motherhood have been answered.

pregnancy test positive faint line

However, the fact remains that many a times although the pregnancy test shows a positive result, you may not actually be pregnant. It is important to understand that a home pregnancy test kit is not absolutely fool proof and that it is possible to get false results with it as well.

This article explores eight different reasons why a pregnancy test kit may tell you that you are pregnant when you are actually not.

  • You Took A Long Time
  • You Are On Fertility Medications
  • You Have High Residual Hcg In Your System
  • User Error
  • Certain Medical Conditions
  • Chemical Pregnancy
  • Early Miscarriage
  • Expired Kit

1. You Took A Long Time

It is important to understand that every pregnancy test kit comes with certain guidelines and there is a certain duration of time after which you are supposed to read the results. Make sure that you adhere to the same.

If you take unnecessarily long period of time before checking the results, what will happen is that the urine in the pregnancy test kit may evaporate. This will cause you to think that there are two lines instead of one. As most of us are well aware, the occurrence of two lines is used to signify that a woman is pregnant.

2. You Are On Fertility Medications

If you are on fertility medications, it is understood that you are longing to hear the good news. However, understand that getting the test positive does not necessarily mean that you are carrying a child. This is because there are certain injections that form a part of in vitro fertilization that actually raise the hCG levels of an individual.

If the hCG levels in your body are sufficiently high, it may cause the pregnancy test kit to declare you as pregnant. However, before you get your hopes high it is advisable that you consult your doctor and confirm the same (particularly if you are under fertility medication).

3. You Have High Residual Hcg In Your System

As stated earlier, high hCG levels in the body are used to signify pregnancy. However, that may not always be because of your pregnancy or the fertility medications that you are in. It has been seen in the case of any women that even after they deliver a child, the hCG levels take months to get back to their normal levels.

The same can be said in the case of women who have miscarried in the past few months. Thus, if you have had a childbirth or miscarriage in the recent past it may be a good idea to consult your doctor before getting elated over the results of your home pregnancy test kit.

4. User Error

The pregnancy test should be taken at a particular time of your cycle. The same is specified in the instructions that come with the kit. Make sure that you read the same. Also, make it a point to note that you should take this test when your urine is natural and not when it is excessively diluted or highly concentrated.

There might be some other instructions that are specific to the pregnancy test kit that you are using. The same will be mentioned in the instructions. Make sure that you not just read the same but also adhere to it word by word.

5. Certain Medical Conditions

Kidney diseases often cause the white blood cells or blood in the body to be affected. The same can be said in the case of urinary tract infection or ovarian cysts (corpus letteum cysts, to be more specific). If you are aware of suffering from any of these diseases, it is important for you to know that these may cause the lines to appear in your home pregnancy test kit without you actually carrying a fetus.

6. Chemical Pregnancy

This is one condition where a fertilized egg fails to implant itself into the womb due to fibroids, scar tissue or some form of congenital uterine disorder that makes the uterus have an irregular shape.

Statistics has it that one in every five women faces chemical pregnancy at some point in their lives. The positive thing here is the fact that this condition does not last for more than a couple of weeks at a go.

If a pregnancy test is taken when a woman is in her chemical pregnancy, the results may show as positive. Thus, it is advisable to wait for a couple of weeks after your missed period in order to confirm your pregnancy.

7. Early Miscarriage

This is another common condition wherein a woman gets her periods a few days after getting a positive pregnancy test result and things go normal after that. In such a case she naturally assumes that she was never pregnant and that the test gave her wrong results.

However, that may not always be the case. This type of situation is often seen in case of women who have early miscarriages. An early miscarriage is actually dangerous and may affect your chances of getting pregnant in the future.

Thus, if such a thing happens to you, it is a good idea ro keep your gynecologist notified of the same.

8. Expired Kit

This is another common reason for getting false results. What happens is that couples often end up buying the pregnancy test kit in bulk and storing them for later use. By the time the woman gets a missed period and actually suspects being pregnant, the packet would have already expired.

Do not expect an expired packet to give you appropriate results. Thus, it is advisable that you check the expiry date of the test kit before using the same.

Story first published: Friday, July 6, 2018, 18:36 [IST]
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