To think that the home pregnancy test is the worst thing ever invented?

[wannaBe]

They're clearly designed to make women obsessive about becoming pregnant - and with ever increasing promises of an accurate result three, four, five days before your period is even due their aim is clearly just to cause stress and to make yet more money for the manufacturers.

Ultimately, if you're pregnant you will still be pregnant if you test a couple of weeks later, and if you're having a chemical pregnancy, is there really any need to know? I'm not talking about a full-on miscarriage - of course I'm not, but where the embrio simply doesn't implant but is picked up because of some uber sensitive test, isn't that just adding to the whole stress that is ttc?

When I rule the world I will ban them, and only allow pg tests that are accurate from two weeks after a period is due...

I found out 23rd Dec, had I waited til I was due, I'd have drank Xmas dry so I'm glad I found out early.

I do get what you are saying though, but you are wrong, everyone has their own reasons for testing early, even if it's neurotic ones.

I used to do procedures at work that required radiological guidance and needed to know ASAP if I was pregnant. Waiting until 2 weeks late would not have been an option, even though we wore lead aprons I could not have done the procedure knowing I might have been pregnant.

I missed my opportunity to take a test at home - I switched from the injections to the pill and managed to catch inbetween the changeover.

I thought everything was fine until I had excruciating pain like someone was stabbing my uterus from the inside. Went to A&E and was told I was 5 weeks pregnant. Cue about 6 scans over the next 4 weeks to make sure it wasn't ectopic and everything was fine!

I would have loved to be able to find out at home rather than in a hospital weeping from pain. They still don't know why I was in such agony! Completely baffled my mother who's a nurse!

YABU. Home pregnancy tests are a tool, it's up to the person how they use them.

People have always tested early. Even the ancient Egyptians used.to urinate.on dome.sort.of.wheat or something to see if.it changed colour, so hardly a.New thing.

Yabu

Carrie - My 9yo DS1 is doing a project on ancient Egpyt at the moment, and HE told me about that. Apparently they weed on the seeds of wheat and barley or something, and if one grew it was a girl, if the other grew it was a boy, and if neither grew then you weren't pg at all. Bit of a long winded way to test for pg though! Apprently, the girl-boy thing does work, and has been proven by modern-day tests...

Not everyone who buys those test is ttc. I know this is a parenting forum, but was there never a point for any of you when you didn't want children?

When the thought of contraceptive failure terrified you? When you spent a fortnight panicking, unable to concentrate on anything, waiting for your period to come?

Like lots of inventions there are positives and negatives (excuse the pun).
On balance they are more useful than not.
Why shouldn't women have knowledge over what's going on with their own bodies?
I agree that it's resulted in women mourning over late periods.

YABU
I took a test three/four days before my period was due. I had had two prior miscarriages and testing had revealed a possible cause. I needed to start heparin injections at six weeks pregnant and begin low dose aspirin immediately. If I hadn't found out I was pregnant until I was two weeks late then this would not have been possible. Thanks to being able to get things sorted quickly, I am now 30 weeks pregnant.

Obviously if you have a positive result before your period is due, you know that you are right in the danger zone for the next week and there is perhaps only a 50/50 chance. You need a "you have to be in it to win it" mentality at that stage. However, if you are having repeated chemical pregnancies, it would actually be good to know about it. you would at least know that you had conceived and therefore you were ovulating and your partner was producing sufficient sperm to get the job done. The knowledge that you were conceiving and then having very early losses might help identify what would help you have a successful pregnancy.

However, the tests with the conception indicator are indeed the work of the devil. clearblue invented those so that one test wouldn't be enough. Once upon a time you just did a test to find out you were pregnant. Now you need to do one or two a week to see the indicator go up!

What some of you are so compassionately describing as late periods are some woman's crushed dreams. And not testing at a week late would not have made any difference. I knew I was pregnant, and I was. Twice. But not for long.

YABU - make your decision for yourself, and leave others to make theirs.
What about people who have repeated chemical pregnancies or early losses? Knowledge about that from HPTs allows them to give to seek help and give information that may determine their treatment options.
I have PCOS and irregular cycles - no luxury for me of knowing whether my period is late or not - I won't know.
With my miscarriage - missed, found out at 13 weeks pregnant at scan - had I never tested I'd have found out I was miscarrying when I bled heavily, had contractions, and passed recognisably foetal matter. It was very traumatic for me losing my baby - it would have been far worse just having that happen out of the blue.
I was an early tester after IVF too. During treatment you have a trigger shot of the hormone pregnancy tests - so for a time you could get a false positive. I wanted to test falsely positive every day until I knew I was negative again, so I could trust a later result.
None of anyone's business why I use HPTs, but thought I'd share a few reasons and suggest you stop trying to take other people's decision for them!

I think its the early, before period is due tests that can give people false hope (although I accept that for some people, an early result is essential).

With IVF they tell you expressly not to test before the two weeks is up as you can get a false positive from the drugs if you test too early. Its a horrid wait though

I have never used a first response I have to say, I have always waited until I was at least five days lard before testing. But if others choose to that us up to them.

I tested as a formality 5 minutes before an appointment to have a coil, just to be on the safe side. I was 5 weeks pregnant with my DD and had no idea, without that test she probably wouldn't be here.

YABU

YABU.

What you're suggesting is pretty patronising tbh. If any serious ttc'er decided to wait til 2 weeks after her period was due to test but her period came 1 week late, by your logic she's just had a chemical prenancy or ov'd late so you've saved her some heart ache.

In reality most ttc'ers know their own cycles pretty well so would know when they ov'd and therefore when period was due...if it's late after that they're probably pregnant. Knowing that and not testing is incredibly hard. Having a chemical pregnancy is bloody hard too when you're ttc'ing.

we are much more in tune with our bodies when ttc'ing and asking for us to 'unknow' that knowledge is frankly ridiculous.

It'd be interesting to know if most people who use pregnancy tests are TTCing or desperately hoping that they haven't Cd.

I think Showofhands is right - they're obviously a useful diagnostic tool but the manufacturers like Clearblue are irresponsible in designing a product that is targeted to make its profit off women's vulnerability and insecurity, not medical need. Their other marketing technique is selling bumper packs to encourage women into habitual testing.

I've stopped taking them because of chem pregnancies. It was just way too depressing, I'd rather just think my period is late. My rule with TTCing is if its a week overdue, I can test, if not, then no way.

I've used them for both reasons.

I think they aren't useful before it is 5 weeks since your last period, it then allows you to make an appointment with GP and midwife at the 6 week mark. In our area it is pointless making an appointment before then as the TOP clinic is only interested in appointing women after they are 6 weeks, because they have to scan the woman first and scans under 6 weeks aren't very accurate and you have to be pregnant to get the TOP tablets. If you want to be pregnant then there is little point booking before 6 weeks as if you have a very early bleed the early pregnancy unit is only interested if you are at least 6 weeks, because of the scanning dfficulties again.
Alot of pregnancies do miscarry between 4 and 6 weeks (especially 4-5) and 20 years ago it didn't cause as much angst as women just thought they had had a late period.

yes, and 20 years ago they also did not have effective treatment for women at risk of recurrent miscarriage. The whole point is that we have advanced in medicine in that period.

And I don't believe everyone used to just think it was a late period. Each time I have been pregnant I have known before I did the test. For some people the early symptoms are quite unmistakeable.

Oh dear OP. Try butting out of other people's business. It's up to the individual if she wants to know what is going on in her own body, isn't it?

YABU, if someone is obsessed with TTC they would be with no mod cons

some people (hands up!) can get attatched to the IDEA of a pregnancy during TWW and the longer that goes on the worse it is when it turns out to be BFN, so the earlier people like me that know the better!