Faint Lines on a Pregnancy Test
What does it mean if you get a faint line on a pregnancy test? Are you pregnant or not?
If you鈥檙e trying to conceive, you probably get super excited and nervous every time you pee on a stick, anxiously awaiting the results. The line is faint. Are you seeing things? Is that a real result or are you crossing your eyes over a negative test?
Don鈥檛 worry鈥攜our eyes are not playing tricks on you! A faint line on a pregnancy test isusually an indicator of a positive test, rather than a negative one!
Here鈥檚 why: Home pregnancy tests measure the level of hCG (human chorionic gonadotropin) in your urine. hCG is a hormone that your body starts producing very early in pregnancy. It actually doubles or triples every few days during the first few weeks of pregnancy!
Just wait
The body starts producing enough hCG to turn a test positive at least ten days after ovulation, so it鈥檚 recommended that you wait to test until then. Of course, waiting is hard, and sometimes people test early鈥攎aybe just a few days after ovulation and before a (hopefully) missed period. This period is often when that faint lines emerge: when you鈥檙e pregnant, but the levels of hCG in your urine are still fairly weak.
Drink less
Other reasons for a faint line include diluted urine (which can happen if you drink a ton of liquid before you test), miscalculating the date of ovulation or your period, and yes, sometimes even because of an expired or bad test. What鈥檚 more, different brands or types of pregnancy tests have different levels of sensitivity鈥攚hen you鈥檙e looking, choose one with the lowest mIU/L number, which means it鈥檚 the most sensitive to hCG. A test that isn鈥檛 that sensitive might show a faint line, while another would show a stronger line.
Follow directions
Some women see shadowy lines on their pregnancy test because they are reading the results after the recommended time in the test鈥檚 directions. These lines are called evaporation lines because they show up as the urine evaporates from the test.
Another possible reason for a fake line a chemical pregnancy, when the body produces hCG because of a fertilized egg, but the pregnancy ends in miscarriage in the first few days or weeks. In this case there can be leftover levels of hCG in your system, even though you鈥檙e not pregnant anymore.
One final factor: We鈥檙e all different! Some women鈥檚 bodies produce a strong amount of hCG right away, while others take longer to rev up the hormones.
We know, it鈥檚 a little overwhelming鈥攖here are quite a few reasons why you might get a faint line! But we want to stress that if you do see one of those pesky faint lines on a test, it actually is a good sign that you鈥檙e probably pregnant. If you want to see a stronger positive, wait a few days and test again.
