Faint line on a pregnancy test- Are you pregnant? A fertility expert explains
Home urine pregnancy tests have gotten
better and better over the years. That said, is it still possible to see a faint
line on a pregnancy test? If so, what does it mean? Are you pregnant or not?
Stay tuned and I will answer these questions. Pregnancy tests measure the hormone
hCG. hCG is produced by cells in the developing embryo called trophoblast cells.
After an embryo implants and establishes a connection with the mother’s circulation,
the hCG is released into the bloodstream. Once the hCG in the blood reaches the kidneys,
the hCG is secreted into the urine. Therefore, pregnancy tests can be done using blood or urine
to determine wh ether there is hCG present. What does a faint positive line mean? Any positive
line, even a faint line, means that hCG has been detected in your urine. There are three situations
in which hCG can be found in your urine. By far and away the most common one is that you are
pregnant. In fact, the only times you might not be pregnant with a positive line is if you have
recently used a medication which contains hCG. hCG is commonly used during fertility treatments.
If you have received an hCG injection, then your pregnancy test might be measuring the hCG from
the medication – not from a pregnancy.
Finally, although it is very very rare, a person can have a
medical condition which causes hCG to be produced. Why might you be seeing a faint line
instead of a dark line? The darkness of the line you see on a home pregnancy
test corresponds to the concentration of hCG in your urine. Shortly after embryo
implantation, someone might have anywhere from 5 to 50 mIU/mL of hCG in their urine
(mlU/mL means milli-International Units per milliliter. The most sensitive home pregnancy
test can pick up 10 mIU/mL of hCG 100% of the time and 6 mIU/ml about 50% of the time. One
reason for a very faint line is that you are detecting a pregnancy at the very earliest stage
possible, right after the embryo has implanted.
Another reason for a faint line is that your
urine is dilute. It is going to be harder to detect hCG if your urine is very dilute.
This is why it is recommended that you use the first urine in the morning after waking up
before having anything to drink. In that way, since you have not had anything to drink since
the night before, your body is dehydrated and your urine will be more concentrated. You can
tell if your urine is very diluted by just looking at it. If it is very clear, almost
like water or a very pale yellow color, then your urine is very dilute. If it is a very
dark yellow color then it is more concentrated.
I know I am going to get a million questions in
the comments for my recommendation on the best, most accurate home pregnancy test. If you
follow this channel, you know that I don’t endorse any commercial products. That way, you
can always trust my recommendations. I will, however, refer you to an excellent
review of home pregnancy tests. Just google “Wirecutter” Best pregnancy test
or just click the link in the description..
