How Early Can I Take a
Home Pregnancy Test?

Could it be? When a woman thinks that she may be pregnant, the need to know is simply insatiable. Finding out if she’s prego can completely consume her thoughts until she gets her answer. But what happens when things are not as simple as she thought it would be? That’s when the quest for the true results becomes more intense.

One of the most frequently asked questions about getting that life-changing “yes” or “no”, is to know when is the earliest that someone can take and get fairly accurate results from a pregnancy test. While many pregnancy test companies will tell you that their test can let you know as early as the very next day after your period doesn’t show, those claims are pretty much not 100% true. Most pregnancy tests cannot accurately or consistently detect pregnancy that early.

To get the most accurate results, it is best to wait about a week later. So, if you missed a period on Wednesday, you may not want to take that early pregnancy test until the following Wednesday or Thursday. That is when the test will be more reliably able to evaluate the hormone that is the basic indicator for pregnancy, human chorionic gonadotropin or hCG, that appears in your urine.

The reality is that hCG is not the same in every woman at every point. Therefore, the levels that are present after just one day of a missed period could be so faint that they aren’t even detected at all. This is not a completely uncommon phenomenon. Actually, it’s very common and can be very unnerving for those that get a false answer. For some, their whole world could be turned topsy-turvy if the initial results are less than favorable, whether positive or negative.

So, before you run out and buy a pregnancy test at the first sign of a missed period, relax. Wait about a week and then, take your test. Regardless of how the results fair, chances are you will be able to feel more confident that you have a more accurate answer.