Do you think that early pregnancy tests have caused more trouble than they've solved?

[BigFluffyHoodie]

It seems to me that these early tests show "chemical pregnancies" that weren't ever going to progress. And for millennia women have just had a heavier period, and known nothing about it. But now it's a thing? Rather than just a natural process that peters out.

I actually agree OP, sometimes ignorance is bliss.

I will never test early again because of this.

Absolutely agree
The despair and soul searching on here is heart breaking
Not that many years ago you simply wouldn't have known

Yes. They made me lose my mind. In retrospect whole ttc thing was so undignified and probably unnecessary.

I don’t know. I see endless posts from people asking if they could be pregnant despite negative results. If they didn’t have the tests, then I’m sure they would be convinced they were pregnant and incorrectly believe and grieve a miscarriage.

Definitely. I never had a chemical pregnancy or a miscarriage but nevertheless those early tests made me insane trying to conceive.

I think it’s useful to know if you’re having repeated chemical pregnancies if you struggle to conceive. It is hard to see lines fade out though.

I totally agree. There's no need to know any sooner and so many initial fertilisations don't progress to a full pregnancy, it causes unnecessary anguish.
I understand wanting to know, I really do, but I don't think it helps.

I didn't do any tests until after I'd actually had late periods for this reason.

It does strike me as much more useful to be able to detect pregnancies earlier if it's an unwanted pregnancy though.

No. Women should have access to knowledge about their own bodies, if it's available. I find it paternalistic to suggest women are better off with restricted information about themselves.

Knowing about my chemical was beneficial to me because I was better able to track ovulation the next month (since it dysregulated my monthly cycle) and then conceived successfully the next month.

My friend experiencing chemicals was able to get medical help and learn that she had a bacterial imbalance in her cervix. A few probiotics later and she conceived successfully.

But what if a "chemical pregnancy" isn't a "thing"? I mean, that it isn't anything here or there on the path to having a baby?

Oh yeah, I'm all about the paternalism 🤔

That's great that you and your friend went on to have successful pregnancies. But perhaps you are seeing causation where there is none.

Chemical pregnancy is just a horrid phrase that minimises pregnancy loss. Let’s call it what it is. It’s an early miscarriage. It was, quite often, a much wanted baby.

Miscarriages don’t ’just happen’. They aren’t ’bad luck’. There is always a medical reason for miscarriage even early ones.

As someone who suffered repeated miscarriages, I think any tool that helps to identify miscarriages taking place is a step towards identifying the reason for that miscarriage and preventing it happening in future.

Possibly one of the least empathetic comments I’ve ever seen on Mumsnet.

That ‘chemical’ is HCG. It’s only produced when an egg is fertilised and implants.

Are you just here to tell women they should shut up and get over it, too?

I am torn on this. I understand why you say it, and agree to an extent, but knowledge is power.

Through early testing we realised our embryos were beginning to implant but failing.

As a result I had steroid treatment to reduce my immune response to the embryo and was able to have my wonderful DD.

Not sure I understand. It means sperm and egg have successfully fused, developed to a particular stage and partially implanted. So if you’ve been ttc for a year and that’s happened a few times that’s very useful information for investigating where the issue is - eg maybe it’s progesterone or lining thickness rather than lack of ovulation or sperm count.

You sound nice.

What I am saying, is that a "chemical pregnancy" may be a natural thing that happens over and over, and not something to consider as a miscarriage.

We didn't know about them in the old days. We didn't describe them as such. They weren't an issue.

What I mean is, that a "chemical pregnancy" may be a thing that happens over and over, but has no effect on the likelihood of an eventual pregnancy. Just a sort of shedding. That we never knew about.

How weird I was just thinking this to myself 10 minutes ago!

And yes/no. On one hand we have the emotional rollercoaster of getting a positive only to have a chemical pregnancy or miscarriage, whereas before ignorance was bliss and you would only find out about a pregnancy when the odds of miscarriage were much lower as the pregnancy was more advanced.

On the other hand, it’s much better to know sooner so you can stop drinking/smoking/vaping, start folic acid if you haven’t already and so on.

I do think however there is a small cohort of women who really need to step away from the early tests; who spend ££££ every month on expensive early tests, test multiple times a day, then carry on testing for ‘line progression’ and get sucked in to a market that preys on their hope and despair.

When I started working in the NHS in 1991 we would test for pregnancy until the woman had missed two periods.

I dunno. My period has never been more than a day or two late unless pregnant. So I'd have always known. I don't understand when you read pregnancy articles and it says things like "at 6 weeks, you've probably only just found out you're pregnant" - I'd have been 2 weeks late at that point!

Yes my mother in law said her GP wouldn’t test until 2 periods had been missed, so around 8-10 weeks pregnant.

Completely agree.

When TTC number 3 I had 2 chemical pregnancies.

Luckily I was in a good mindset. I really wanted #3 but I had 2 so life was really good.

So I felt nothing for a couple of cells. The only thing I got my hopes up about was getting to stop trying. Never did love planned sex.

They weren't babies. And had I not tested so early I wouldn't have thought anything about my period being later and a bit heavier.
I gained nothing from knowing about it.

But it does impact the likelihood as it shows you can conceive a pregnancy, as well as providing useful information about where fertility problems are arising if it happens repeatedly as I and another pp have explained.

I have also had an early miscarriage, one that would have been missed if I hadn't tested early, but I am glad that we had the opportunity to celebrate and love that little life, even if only for a few days.

If the technology exists for a women to know what's going on inside her own body, she should have access to it.