 Show An over-the-counter pregnancy test is usually the first port of call to check if you could be pregnant, and home tests are around 99 per cent accurate. However, if you’ve got too much of a certain hormone in your body, you could still be pregnant even if your test appears negative. How does this happen? It’s called the ‘hook effect’ and it means you could be seeing a negative result on a pregnancy test even when you are pregnant.
The hook effect occurs when a woman has irregularly high levels of a hormone that is produced during pregnancy. Pregnancy tests are designed to detect a hormone in your urine called human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG). This hormone is produced after a fertilised egg attaches itself to the wall of the uterus. If you are pregnant, your levels of hCG will increase rapidly, doubling every two to three days. What’s the hook effect? The hook effect intervenes with the signals in the body that indicate pregnancy. When you’re pregnant, the hCG molecules would get sandwiched between two antibodies and this is how it’s detected by a pregnancy test. However, if you’ve already got too much hCG in your body, the antibodies will be flooded and the test will come back negative. This is called the ‘hook effect’. It’s more likely to occur in cases of twins or triplets, because the level of pregnancy hormone is so much higher. Other reasons for a false negative The hook effect in itself is pretty rare, but there are other reasons for producing a false negative. The most common reason for a false negative is testing too early. According to the NHS, “pregnancy tests are most reliable from the first day of your period” although different tests can vary from when they can be used, so it’s always best to check. If your periods are irregular and you’re not sure when you’re due, the rule of thumb is to wait at least three weeks after you think you might have got pregnant before taking a test. Another reason for experiencing a false negative is your urine being too diluted. It’s best to take a test in the morning before you’ve drunk anything as this is when your urine is at its most concentrated. How to know for certain if you’re pregnant As previously stated, home pregnancy tests are usually highly reliable, with around 99 per cent accuracy. But with extra variables factored in, there can be false positives and false negatives when testing at home. If you’ve done home tests but are still unsure of whether you’re pregnant, make an appointment with your GP. Your GP can arrange a blood test to check if you’re pregnant. The results might take longer, but they can detect pregnancy at an earlier stage than home urine tests. "A week before my period was due, an early pregnancy test came out positive, as did three more tests over the next three days. Why? I heard hCG levels are higher with twins. Could I be pregnant with more than one baby?" First of all, congratulations! Those early positives might be one clue that you're having twins, but don't count on it. Here's why:
Home pregnancy tests look for the presence of human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) in your urine, and levels of that hormone are indeed higher in multiple pregnancies — but not right away. It takes a few days for the hCG production of twins to outpace the hCG production of one baby. In fact, on the first day of your first missed period, there might be no difference at all. Since
you tested yourself even earlier than that, it's just as likely that what you measured is simply a normal variation in hormone production; your early positives may mean you have two more babies on the way (which research indicates is more common among women over the age of 35), or they may mean that you have just one. The only thing for sure right now is that you're pregnant. Why such an iffy answer? It's because home pregnancy tests must account for several big variables. First, hCG
starts getting manufactured by the cells of the placenta a few days after the embryo implants itself in your uterine wall, and then doubles every two to three days for about 10 weeks. Your egg can survive in the fallopian tube for up to 24 hours after ovulation, though you can become pregnant if you have sex up to five days before ovulation in addiition to up to a day after. Since hCG doesn't get produced until
implantation, you may have no measurable levels of it until just before you miss your period, or you may have a stash of nearly two weeks' worth. In addition to this variation (or perhaps because of it), the amount of hCG can differ wildly from person to person and pregnancy to pregnancy. Continue Reading Below Finally, pregnancy tests themselves vary in sensitivity, not just from brand to brand but from batch to batch. Very few home tests are sensitive enough to use reliably before the first day your period is due; not until then do most women have hCG levels high enough to produce a plus sign (some experts recommend waiting a few extra days, to be sure there's enough hormone to measure; that said, any positive result is accurate no matter what day you use the test on). But if your levels were on the high side and you used an especially sensitive home pregnancy test, you certainly could have gotten early positives and not be having twins. By the way, blood tests for hCG are more accurate than home pregnancy tests (especially earlier on). A quantitative hCG test specifically measures the amount of the hormone you're producing. Few practitioners order blood tests for pregnancy anyway, since home pregnancy tests are so accurate once a period is missed. However, since you did have such early positives, your doctor might want to order one. He or she might also order an ultrasound, which will let you see if you've got more than one baby on board. Here's to a super pregnancy!
Was this article helpful? Is it common to have a negative pregnancy test with twins?Lastly: sometimes twin or higher order multiple pregnancies, in which levels of hCG are very high, can cause a false negative pregnancy test. This is called the high-dose hook effect. 4 It's unusual, but possible. if you miss a period and have pregnancy symptoms, see your doctor.
Can you get a negative pregnancy test at 5 weeks and still be pregnant?Yes, it is possible. Getting a negative result doesn't mean you're not pregnant, it may just mean your hCG levels are not high enough for the test to detect the hormone in your urine.
Are twins detectable at 5 weeks?It is thought that you might be able to tell that you're having twins as early as 5 weeks if you have higher than normal human chorionic gonadotropin hormone (hCG) levels. Your body begins to make hCG as soon as the embryo implants in the uterus.
Do pregnancy tests show up sooner with twins?Elevated HCG Levels
In a multiple pregnancy, hCG levels can be higher than in a single pregnancy; plus, positive pregnancy tests can often be indicated sooner than in a single pregnancy.
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5 weeks pregnant with twins negative test
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