Download Best Pregnancy Test App
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Another inexpensive option (test strips require less packaging than wands, which helps keep down the cost), these reliable test sticks have the bonus of integrating with the PreMom fertility-tracking app. Remember, though, to review all privacy info before entering any personal data on a fertility app.
Gynecologist Ruth O. Arumala, DO, co-chief medical officer of Zuri Fertility, likes this test, which claims to be 99% accurate as early as six days before your missed period. It comes in a stylish lavender box and the stick is ergonomically designed to be held comfortably in your hand (so there's less chance of accidentally dropping it in the toilet). These are pricier than other brands, but the price drops to $13.60 a box if you get a monthly or bimonthly subscription.
For this guide, we interviewed Dr. Brindha Bavan, an obstetrician-gynecologist, reproductive endocrinologist, and fertility specialist at Stanford Medicine; Dina Greene, PhD, an associate laboratory director at LetsGetChecked and a clinical associate professor of chemistry at the University of Washington at the time of our interview, who has co-authored several published studies on hCG testing in clinical settings; and David Grenache, PhD, chief scientific officer at a diagnostic testing company and a clinical professor of pathology at the University of New Mexico who has studied hCG for more than 15 years.
Once the body begins producing more hCG, its amount in the blood and urine roughly doubles every two or three days for the first eight to nine weeks of pregnancy. After implantation, someone might have anywhere from 5 to 50 mIU/mL of hCG in their pee (mlU/mL means milli-International Units per milliliter, a standardized unit).
Of course, this is all assuming you have an average-length cycle and that you always ovulate exactly two weeks after your period. In reality, test accuracies are affected by the lengths of different phases of the menstrual cycle, when an egg may have been fertilized, and how long it took a fertilized egg to reach the uterus, among other things.
It is also possible to get a false negative result after using a test on a day the box says it should be 99% accurate. This is because of how different the levels of urine hCG are from person to person, and even how much they can change throughout the day in the same person. Your hCG may be on the low end, or your pee may be very dilute.
So how do the tests actually detect hCG? Most of the action takes place along a narrow strip of a special absorbent type of paper. Each strip is pre-loaded with molecules needed to detect hCG and create a colored band and a control band. As urine containing hCG gets wicked up the paper, it passes areas where those molecules have been deposited.
We chose 26 tests to try based on their popularity and availability, as well as their ratings at online retailers. We also walked into pharmacy chains and big-box retailers to see what someone in need of a test ASAP might find on the shelves. We then looked at the following:
I compared the time it took for each test to develop with the time claimed on the packaging, and I then examined the readability of the control line and took note of any faulty tests or false positives. Leigh Krietsch Boerner, who was pregnant while assessing tests for an earlier version of this review, compared positive lines and looked out for any false negatives. She also used urine diluted by 1,000 times in water to see what a faintly positive line looked like on several tests.
In addition, in our own (unscientific) testing, this test gave the clearest positive reading to a very dilute solution of pregnancy pee. As you can see in the photo, the First Response wand (at bottom) showed a very clear positive response with a strong fuchsia line, while the other pregnancy tests barely registered faint blue marks.
In addition, its ultra-high sensitivity makes the First Response Early Result test more likely to detect chemical pregnancies, which Dr. Bavan said could cause false hope and then letdown for people who are trying to conceive, as well as unnecessary stress for people hoping for a negative result.
There are other rare situations where a more sensitive test could be more likely to give false positive results. For example, hCG can increase during perimenopause. One study found that 1.3% of home pregnancy tests taken by women ages 41 to 55 would be false positives. The manufacturer reported to the FDA a similar rate of false positives for this age group.
Similar to First Response Early Result, Clearblue Early Detection can detect pregnancy five days before an expected period 71% of the time (that goes up to 94% four days before, 98% three and two days before, and 99% a day before an expected period). Unlike other Clearblue pregnancy tests, this wand test also uses pink lines rather than blue, which some people find easier to read.
As with all digital wand tests, this one costs more than traditional (non-digital) wand tests, and it makes for additional electronic waste. The instructions that accompany the Clearblue Digital instruct you to dispose of the test (which, like all digital tests, includes a battery) according to local regulations.
MomMed Pregnancy Test strips are as well vetted as all the other tests we recommend, and they meet the requirements to detect 25 mIU/mL of hCG in urine. The manufacturer, Co-Innovation, tested for the hook effect and variant hook effect up to the same levels as the manufacturer of First Response tests has. Like all test strips, these can only be used with the dip method, and they are intended to be used the day after a missed period at the earliest.
If you can wait longer to test and want something inexpensive that you can get at a store quickly: We like the Equate First Signal One Step test (currently 97) from Walmart. This simple and effective test produces a clear, dark pink control band, and its results are easy to read. Like test strips, this cassette-style test requires you to pee into a cup. (Unlike test strips, this test has you use a supplied dropper to add urine to the test strip.) Walmart gets these from a medical device company that has shown the test can detect 25 mIU/ml hCG. The Equate cassette is not useful for detecting very low amounts of hCG, and some customer reviewers have reported false negative results when using this test.
EPT claims its test to be 99% accurate from the day of an expected period. It has really skinny handles that feel top-heavy. In our experience, the plastic film covering the test window sometimes got stuck to the strip inside, creating a vertical line that could easily be confused for a positive result, as some customer reviewers have reported.
The Modern Fertility wand test has a high claimed sensitivity and is easy to read. However, the wand is small and dainty compared with our picks and most store-brand tests, including the similarly priced Target (Up & Up) Advanced Early Result (you could fit an individually wrapped wand in your pocket, making it a good, discrete option if you prefer wand tests to strips). Modern Fertility wand tests use the same strips as Easy@Home (Wondfo), but the company says they have a higher sensitivity (10 mIU/mL) and accuracy (68% five days before an expected period, 89% at four days, 97% at three days, 98% at two days, and 99% the day of). We have not tested the accompanying app.
Of all the strips we considered, ClinicalGuard strips had the least impressive testing data. They detected hCG at 25 mIU/mL in control samples just half of the time. The packet we received had no insert, and it was difficult to find any instructions for use online. And they are skinnier and harder to handle than MomMed and Easy@Home strips.
Amanda Keener is a freelance science journalist living in Littleton, Colorado. She earned a PhD in microbiology and immunology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She writes about all sorts of biomedical topics, including pregnancy. She had no clue how much her scientific training would come up while parenting three children.
Pregnancy tests check your pee or blood for a hormone called human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG). Your body makes this hormone when you're pregnant and a fertilized egg attaches to the wall of your uterus.
A blood pregnancy test uses a small sample of your blood from a vein in your arm. It detects the presence and amount of the pregnancy hormone in your body. That's helpful when your doctor needs to know the exact amount of HCG in your blood, and not just if it's present in your blood.
False-positive results happen in very rare cases. This means you're not pregnant but the test says you are. You could have a false-positive result if you have blood or protein in your pee. Certain drugs, such as tranquilizers, anticonvulsants, hypnotics, and fertility drugs, could cause false-positive results.
False-negative results might happen if you take the pregnancy test too early. The earlier you take it, the harder it is to detect HCG. For best results, take a home pregnancy test after the first day of your missed period.
A faint line on a pregnancy test can be confusing. It can happen because it's very early in your pregnancy and your pregnancy hormone level is low, or because some tests have less bold lines than others. Experts say a faint line usually means you're pregnant. But see your doctor to be sure.
An evaporation line on a pregnancy test is a slight, colorless streak where the positive line should be. This might happen if you wait longer than suggested to read your test result, or if the test gets wet. It doesn't mean you're pregnant. It's a good idea to take another test to get accurate results.
When you get a positive pregnancy test result, contact your doctor for an appointment. They might want to give you a blood test to confirm you're pregnant. It's important to know as soon as possible if you're pregnant so you can start receiving prenatal care and making healthy lifestyle changes, if necessary.
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