Is it true that OPKs can be used as pregnancy tests?

[kawaiiko]

All of them?

I ordered a bbt thermometer that came with 30 opks. I don't want to use them to predict ovulation but we quite excited if they also function as pg tests.

Or am I ?!

Well to be honest, I had some OPKs and some PG tests, a few weeks after my BFP i came across a OPK so thought I would try it for laughs. It came up with a very strong test line, I panicked cause I thought I had MC and was ovulating again lol Turns out I was still very pregnant and DD is now 19 months old. I wouldn't use them strictly as PG tests though as it would be quite hard to tell I think!

So how does this work? If you're pregnant, you get a strong LH test line? That's interesting - I hope I get a chance to find out..!

HCG and LH are very similar proteins so HCG will cross react and be detected on an OPK but this doesn't work the other way round as pg tests are more specific and don't detect LH.

However OPKs have a higher cut off than pg tests so you will get a positive with them later than you would a pg test and results can be difficult to interpret.

Try this website for a full explanation and the pitfalls of using them as pg tests