Is it possible to get a false positive on a pregnancy test

Either way, if you think you might be pregnant , you need to know for sure. But what are the odds a positive pregnancy test might be wrong? When you get pregnant, your body produces a hormone called human chorionic gonadotropin, or hCG. Home pregnancy tests look for that hormone in your urine. If hCG is present, you should get a positive test result when you pee on a stick. But hCG levels start out very low and increase over time.

Emery says. Some potential causes include:. You took a pregnancy test and got two lines. If you have a molar pregnancy which happens in about every 1 in 1, pregnancies it is often picked up in an abnormal ultrasound or you might have symptoms such as early bleeding.

This is a rare one, but some medical conditions such as certain kinds of cancer , chronic kidney disease , as well as problems with your ovaries could cause the body to have increased levels of HCG and potentially lead to a false-positive pregnancy test.

Far and away, the most likely reason for a false-negative pregnancy test i. Call your healthcare provider. Previous Next. A chemical pregnancy occurs if a fertilized egg, known as the embryo, is unable to implant, or grow, very early on.

This can happen for a wide range of reasons. It may be the result of issues within the uterus, such as:. Low amounts of certain hormones, such as progesterone, can reduce the likelihood of implantation and embryo growth. These early test results, when wrong, can be emotionally draining. Sometimes a fertilized egg can implant itself outside of the main cavity of the uterus. This causes an ectopic pregnancy to occur. Ectopic pregnancies usually happen if a fertilized egg gets stuck in a fallopian tube during its journey to the uterus.

This type of ectopic pregnancy is also known as a tubal pregnancy. The embryo will still produce hCG, even though it has implanted in the wrong place. That can cause a false-positive reading on an at-home pregnancy test.

Ectopic pregnancies are medical emergencies. Ectopic pregnancies can be damaging to the woman if left untreated. Extreme blood loss or loss of the reproductive organs can occur. You may continue to test positive for pregnancy following the loss of a pregnancy, either through miscarriage or abortion.

During pregnancy, hCG levels continue to rise as the placenta grows, doubling every few days and peaking at around 10 weeks. The hormone can remain in your blood and urine for up to six weeks following the end of the pregnancy. This will cause hCG levels to remain elevated. When this occurs, a minor surgical procedure called a dilation and curettage D and C is often required to remove the tissue.

Check the expiration date before using the test. Even with these safeguards, user error can occur. My husband had undergone a vasectomy three years earlier. Over the next few days, the shock settled and turned into excitement. Then, nearly a week later, I started cramping and bleeding. My doctor asked me to head to the hospital.

Hours after waiting in the ER, a mandatory mask covering my fear and worry, the physician finally entered my room. The presence of hCG confirms a pregnancy, and a lack of it suggests the individual is not pregnant. If, like me, you have a positive test but you are not, in fact, pregnant, then you either have hCG in your body for another reason or something went wrong with the test.