Pregnancy tests check your urine or blood for human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG).
Typically, a positive result means youre pregnant, and a negative result means youre not.
However, interpreting your results can be complicated, depending on several factors.
Nusha Ashjaee / Verywell
Even if the line or plus sign is thin, if its visible, youre probably pregnant.
This may indicate that your HCG levels are low because youre early in your pregnancy.
Signs of Pregnancy
If you think you might be pregnant, you should take a test.
False Negative Test Result
Unfortunately, sometimes pregnancy test results arent accurate.
In most cases, a urine test will suffice to tell you whether or not youre pregnant.
It could take a few hours to over a day to receive your results.
If you take a pregnancy test before this, your results may be inaccurate.
Keep in mind that its easy to make miscalculations at this point, though.
If your test remains negative, but you still think you may be pregnant, call your healthcare provider.
It may be possible to get a false positive or false negative result.
Whether results are positive or negative, contact a healthcare provider if you believe you may be pregnant.
Gnoth C, Johnson S. Strips of Hope:Accuracy of home pregnancy tests and new developments.
2022 Oct 26;14(10):e30725.
doi:10.7759/cureus.30725
Griffey RT, Trent CJ, Bavolek RA, et al.
“Hook-like effect” causes false-negative point-of-care urine pregnancy testing in emergency patients.
Johns Hopkins Medicine.Gestational trophoblastic disease.
Gnoth C, Johnson S.Strips of hope: accuracy of home pregnancy tests and new developments.Geburtshilfe Frauenheilkd.
2014;74(7):661-669. doi:10.1055/s-0034-1368589
Betz D, Fane K.Human chorionic gonadotropin.
[Updated 2023 Aug 14].
StatPearls Publishing 2025 Jan-.
Planned Parenthood Federation of American.Pregnancy tests.
Food and Drug Administration.Pregnancy.
