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 think you are being unreasonable here.

Of course chemical pregnancies are 'a thing', as you put it. The reason that women didn't know about it for millenia, is because science and technology evolve and now we do know about it. As with lots of things.

Speaking personally, the more I knew about my pregnancy loss and my body the better...that way, I was able to have a successful pregnancy. And for those that don't want to know, then that's entirely their choice.

I don't think it's your intention, but to me, your comments seem to be minimising pregnancy loss and just because women didn't know about it years ago then we should just get on with it now. Seems to be quite a backwards way of thinking.

I have T1 diabetes, knowing early is incredibly useful for me to access support from diabetes midwives and be extremely vigilant with my blood sugars.

The first 12 weeks are so important in babies development so anyone with significant medical issues really needs to know asap.

That did mean I had already an early scan booked in and had spoken to medical team before I miscarried at 5 weeks. Yes it was shit to have to call up and cancel that and not a pleasant experience but I’m still so glad to be able to access that support early both then and in my current pregnancy.

Ttc involves a huge loss of control. Testing early gives the sense of having some kind of control, certainly having access to some kind of information as soon as possible. I second that early finding our about early miscarriages can lead to medical investigations. I also think that for some women, finding out as soon as possible suits their situation.

I got BFPs at 10, 9 and 8 dpo respectively and they were all successful pregnancies. I bought the cheapie tests from Internet and would start testing early, and you know what? I loved it! I still think that seeing that second line appear x 3 were the 3 happiest days of my life. No emotion has ever come close, not even the day the babies were born! With the last baby, I did a test in the morning and it was a definite negative. I left it on the side of the sink and went to work. When I came back there was a squinter so faint that husband couldn't see it. I did another and it was positive. I love looking back on that story.

I didn't want to wait until I missed my period. I wanted to know as soon as I was able to. If that meant testing every day until the strip could pick the HGC up, so be it. Early testing was a time of happiness for me and I wouldn't have changed it.

I did a test once before my period was due. It was a chemical pregnancy. I didnt test early again after that, I waited until I was a week late atleast. But still had 3 more miscarraiges and 2 ectopics. I think women need to know what is going on with their bodies. Recurrent miscarraiges affect 1% of couples so constant chemical miscarraiges or early miscarraiges are not normal or common. And they need investigating. We didn't need to wait 2 years for referrals as I was getting caught every few months. So we got help pretty quickly and put through alot of tests. I wouldnt have gotten that help if I didnt test early. I do however think the tests need improving. Evap lines are too common and cause unnecessary stress and confusion. TTC in general is a stressful and heartbreaking time for alot of people.

Going through the comments and just to answer OP.
It's a fair question you are asking. Are they normal? I thought perhaps they were also when I first started this journey but they arent. Professor lesley regan works at the best recurrent miscarraige unit and has wrote a book on it. You may want to read it. It goes into great depths about this. What is " normal" and what isn't and the main causes etc. It's a really good book to read and gives you great insight to all of this. Its eye opening to be honest.

but it is silly to class it as a pregnancy, when the overwhelming chances are that it will not establish. What is the point?

Pregnant means expecting a baby. What is the point of a test that will go positive at a stage when you can't reasonably be expecting to have a baby?

most conceptions don't establish. There are at least 2 "Chemical" pregnancies to every one that makes it to when the period would be a week late

Why is it that you feel you know better than actual professionals working in this field, out of interest?

I am not going to bother with this. I am highly qualified. But you can see just from the anger and distress on this thread how much pain these early tests cause, and how deep that pain is, and how irrational people become about it.

You honestly cannot have a sensible discussion, because it is something that distresses people so much - which proves our point in itself.

Hiding this now, cos I know how it is going to go

"Highly qualified" ok then 🤣. I'll take your word for it over the word of the actual consultants I've seen working in the field of recurrent miscarriage.

Hi all - we think this is a relevant discussion but please bear in mind that this is a hugely sensitive issue for many women, especially those on this board, and post with that in mind. Thanks.

Pregnancy is literally when a fertilised egg implants. It is not defined by whether or not it will be successful. That is very silly. If there is HGC, there is a pregnancy. Whether it's viable or not is neither here nor there!

Well quite. With my last miscarriage at 11 weeks it was obvious right from about the 6 week mark that it wasn't viable as the baby wasn't growing and the heartbeat was very slow. But while it still had a heartbeat it couldn't be treated as a miscarriage.

Doesn't mean it wasn't a pregnancy! Pregnancy isn't defined on whether or not it's viable.

Miscarriage is the result of a medical problem.

Is that always the case though? Surely nature rejects nonviable implantations for various reasons, such as DNA combinations that will fail, or faulty eggs or sperm in that particular month.

Miscarriage is normal, as in, it’s very common. And in the vast majority of cases, there is an issue with the embryo where it wouldn’t have developed. It’s not a medical problem with the woman. The majority of women who have MCs will have healthy babies. And I’ve had a MC, and I know the embryo had an issue. I’ve since conceived easily and had two babies. I’m not minimising loss, it’s awful. But it’s not possible to eliminate. Unless you only get pregnant with IVF and have the embryos tested beforehand.

I think it's very hard for young women now.
It's natural to want to know if you're pregnant straightaway but I think it often gives a false result leading women to believe they've had a miscarriage when in reality (& without the early testing) they would have just had a late period & never thought anything of it.

I've seen several younger colleagues dealing with this & do think if they'd waited until 2 weeks after a missed period to test there would be much less upset & pressure.

There is no way I wouldn't know I was pregnant if my period was two weeks late, test or no test.

I think waiting until you miss your period is a reasonable level of restraint. I don't understand why anyone would wait for 2 weeks after they miss their period to test unless they literally had no access to a pregnancy test. Two weeks!!! No way!

Especially because unless your cycles were usually all over the place there's no way you wouldn't be pregnant if your period was 2 weeks late.

Mine is every 28 days like clockwork unless I'm pregnant.

I've had multiple "chemical" pregnancies and although I did test early I had positives for over a week and the losses were around 5-7 weeks so would've had that even if I waited to test. Personally for me I like knowing but agree it also can add stress. Everyone needs to do what is right for them :)

I'd much rather know than not know. I'm very much an "information is power" person.

If I have chemicals I can narrow down the cause of my infertility. Tbh ( for me) I don't see the difference in terms of upset between a chemical and your period arriving (I've had 3 - so just reiterating for me). I also means I can test at 8/9dpo and think "I'm not pregnant right now, I can have that glass of wine/ eat charcuterie/do a bunjee jump or whatever"