EARLY RESULTS PREGNANCY TESTS

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A negative result

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We know what it's like to hope for two lines but only see the one control line. Give yourself room to feel your feelings. When you're ready, check out the support options below. You don't have to deal with this alone.


Think it's a false negative?

Not all pregnant people have detectable levels of hCG in their urine five days before their expected period. If you test negative before your missed period but think you may be pregnant, test again a few days after your missed period. (By the way, drinking lots of liquids can dilute urine, so be sure to test first thing in the morning.)

What does a gray or colorless line mean?

Think you see a trace of a line, almost like a shadow? There are a few reasons why you might see something, which are common across all test brands. You might notice what's called an evaporation (or "evap") line, which looks a bit more gray. This can occur after about 10 minutes of taking the test. Pregnancy tests have a reaction time within about five minutes afer they're taken - that's why the directions indicate checking your result at the five-minute mark, when the urine is still damp. However, if you wait too long to read the result, the urine in the test can dry up and leave an evaporation line behind. Unlike the light pink of a faint positive result, an evaporation doesn't activate the dye in the pregancy test, so it may show up as a colorless gray line. This can also happen if the test gets wet beyond the MAX line or is taken incorrectly.

Similarly, you may have heard of indent lines on pregnancy tests. A test's control line and test line start as indenations that fill with ink when you test-all strips are manufactured this way. Sometimes as ink moves across the strip, a little bit can get caught in the test line's indent and become more visible as the urine evaporates. This makes it super important to keep the strip lying flat as it develops and to interpret the results within five to 10 minutes.

Any time you see a faint line and are unsure what it means, the best thing to do is to repeat the pregnancy test two days later with the first-morning urine.

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What else you should know about the test results

If you've drunk a lot of liquids, it can dilute your urine and
potentially lead to a false negative. Test again 48 hours later using
your first urine of the morning.

In very early pregnancy, it's possible to get a false negative. If you suspect you're pregnant, test again 48 hours later using your first urine of the morning. That's why we've included four test strips!