It doesn’t matter if you spent $25 on the fanciest, most expensive, highly rated digital test or $1.25 on the kind with a dropper that requires you to pee in a cup.
All pregnancy tests are essentially the same.
The truth is that even the ones that claim you can test up to 6 days early aren’t actually going to give you a positive any earlier than is physically possible. You can test “6 days early” with a dollar store cheapie or paper dipstick and get about as accurate of a result as that expensive one.
Now, lots of articles will suggest expensive or sensitive tests if you’re testing early, like the one here. And while I appreciate a lot of their content (Don’t fall into the test trap, use this handy flowchart…) I disagree that the FRER is “the best” test.
Let me explain…
AvaWomen suggests the following:
Why are we tricked into thinking a more expensive test = more accurate results?
The fertility and birth control industry thrive off of the general public’s lack of knowledge about our own reproductive biology. The less we know, the more likely we are to get scammed into buying something we don’t actually need, such as fancy digital pregnancy tests.
Regardless of how regular or predictable your cycles are, you will not get an accurate result on a pregnancy test until a certain number of days past ovulation.
This is because pregnancy doesn’t happen immediately after sex.
It takes DAYS for sperm and egg to meet, followed by a few more days for implantation, then another day or two for hormone production to turn a test positive. And this is assuming you ovulated within a few days of sex. In reality, you could have sex FIVE DAYS before you ovulate and then get pregnant.
Implantation can happen anytime between 6 and 12 days after ovulation occurs (“Days Post-Ovulation” is often referred to as DPO). The majority of the time (over 75%) implantation happens on or around 8–10DPO. Once implantation is successful, a pregnancy test will show positive after roughly 24–48 hours.
Here is where AvaWomen scores a lot of points.
That means that while you could technically get a positive test as early as 8DPO (implantation on 6DPO, hormone production is detectable after 2 days), you’re not LIKELY to get a positive test until at least 10DPO or later. That’s roughly 4 days before a predicted period (assuming you get your period on or around 14DPO).
Let’s take a couple of (completely fake and made-up) examples:
Sarah is wondering if she can take a pregnancy test. She had sex 14 days ago and ovulated 10 days ago. Her period is predicted in 4 days.
Jessie had sex 14 and 10 days ago, but didn’t ovulate until 8 days ago. Her period isn’t for another 6 days.
Technically, both could take a pregnancy test and MIGHT get a positive.
Sarah is more likely to get an accurate result if it’s negative, but should still follow up with another test if her period does not show on time, since implantation can still theoretically happen in the next 2 days.
Jessie is more likely to get a negative result, even if she is actually pregnant. If she tests now, she’s still going to have to test again no matter what. She’s only 2 days into her implantation window, and could experience implantation any time in the next 10 days.
It really doesn’t matter if Jessie or Sarah uses an expensive “early result” test or a cheap dip test.
Neither test will be able to detect a pregnancy that isn’t there yet.
With everything getting more expensive and reproductive freedoms not guaranteed, it’s not a bad idea to stock up on some cheap tests to keep on hand. The earlier you can detect a pregnancy, the better. If you like and can afford the more expensive tests — have at it! Just know they are not any better or accurate than the ones you get at the Dollar Tree or in bulk online.
NOW THE GRAND REVEAL!
How do I know so solidly that a First Response Early Result (FRER) test is NOT any more accurate or “better” than a cheapie dipstick?
Because this was MY pregnancy test on a cheapie 2 days before my missed period compared to the FRER that used the same sample.
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Additional note:
If your temperature stays elevated for 18+ days after ovulation, a pregnancy test will definitely be able to confirm without a shadow of a doubt.
