How to Discern a Defective or Expired Pregnancy Test?

The most common cause of a false-positive or a false-negative pregnancy test result is a defective or expired pregnancy test. If you visit popular forums where women trying to conceive communicate with each other you’ll be able to see entire galleries full of faulty results’ photographs.

A defective or expired pregnancy test is usually completely unserviceable. In order to get the most accurate results after using a test stick, you should pick your express pregnancy test very carefully.

Defective and Expired Pregnancy Tests

A pregnancy test comes in handy when you want to detect pregnancy at home. Their degree of reliability varies from 95% to 99%. The most accurate ones are first response pregnancy tests (but they are the most expensive too).

After the implantation of the embryo, the female body begins to produce human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG). When the concentration of this hormone in urine reaches a certain level the agents on the pregnancy test stick react to it and the test shows you the second line as a result.

If the pregnancy test is defective or expired it can provide you with a faulty result because its agents have most probably already decomposed. They can’t react to the human chorionic gonadotropin after that.

pregnancy-strip

How Do You Know it’s a Defective or Expired Pregnancy Test?

To increase the odds of a trustworthy result after using a pregnancy test you have to choose it very carefully. In order not to make a costly mistake, select a product according to the following instruction:

  • Buy a few tests from different manufacturers
  • Read the reviews about various tests and decide which ones you shouldn’t purchase no matter what
  • Buy pregnancy tests only in drugstores (supermarkets, grocery stores, and local shops are not suitable places for the purchase)
  • Don’t buy several tests from the same manufacturer in the same drugstore – they are surely from the same lot and you won’t be able to verify your results
  • Pay attention to the expiration date and the production date on the pack
  • Read the instruction on the test pack and follow it closely
  • Don’t use all the test sticks in one day – do another pregnancy test 2-3 days after using the first one
  • Make sure the pack and the wrapping of the test are intact before buying one
  • If after using the test you can’t see even one line (it’s called the control line) it is a defective or expired pregnancy test
  • The more expensive a pregnancy test is the more accurate the results will be
  • Give one of the sticks to a friend whose pregnancy has already been confirmed: if the test shows a false-negative result it is defective or expired
  • If you have any doubts about the results, go to a clinic and do an hCG blood test – it’s more accurate