Interesting Facts 

False positive ovulation test during pregnancy. Reasons for the erroneous definition of conception

Ovulation is the process of the release of a mature egg from the follicle into the fallopian tube, where fertilization should occur if a spermatozoon meets on its way.

Many expectant mothers are able to feel the approach of ovulation in a few days. During this period and at the time of ovulation itself, a woman's sexual desire intensifies, pain in the ovaries may be felt, and vaginal discharge becomes plentiful and viscous. All these signs indicate that the female body is ready for conception.

To make sure that ovulation is coming and to plan the best time to conceive, many girls use an ovulation test. The principle of its work is to determine the level of luteinizing hormone (LH) in the urine, which reaches its maximum level shortly before the rupture of the follicle.

The appearance of 2 strips on the ovulation test indicates a positive result and means that ovulation will occur in the next 12-48 hours. It should be noted that the brightness of the test strip should not differ from the control - otherwise the result is regarded as a false positive.

What does an ovulation test show during pregnancy?

Many girls prefer to use an ovulation test to determine pregnancy, believing that it allows you to more accurately determine whether fertilization has occurred or not. Indeed, in some cases, an ovulation test shows pregnancy, but it is not entirely correct to consider the result of such a test as reliable.

Despite the fact that the principle of operation of the ovulation test and the pregnancy test is the same, and they both signal the changes taking place in the woman's body, do not forget that in the first case there is a reaction to LH, and in the second - to hCG (chorionic gonadotropin) . A positive ovulation test means that the level of luteinizing hormone has reached its peak level, which will last for several days until the follicle bursts and the egg leaves the ovary. With the normal functioning of the woman's reproductive system, the ovulation test becomes negative again at the end of this process.

A pregnancy test shows a positive result if there is hCG in the urine, for the production of which in the body of a pregnant woman the placenta is responsible. Since its level during pregnancy is constantly growing, a pregnancy test gives a positive result at any period of bearing a child.

However, many women in practice have become convinced that the ovulation test during pregnancy also shows two strips, while the pregnancy test is completely unsuitable for determining the date of ovulation. How to explain this paradox? Firstly, LH and hCG are similar in structure, although they are responsible for completely different physiological processes. Secondly, the level of LH before ovulation rises very little compared to the amount of hCG that is produced in the body of a pregnant woman, so ovulation tests are more sensitive than pregnancy tests. Given these two factors, it is easy to guess that the ovulation test is quite capable of making a mistake and responding to an increase in hCG in the urine of a pregnant woman even before a test specially designed for this is reported to a woman about a successful conception.

Some pharmacists in a pharmacy may advise you to use an ovulation test during pregnancy specifically to diagnose the fact of pregnancy even before the onset of a delay. It is noteworthy that in this case, the second strip on the ovulation test will be much brighter than the control one, and, in fact, the result of such a test is false. Of course, you should not completely rely on this method of determining pregnancy, since it can give a woman unreasonable hope for early motherhood.

Therefore, during pregnancy, an ovulation test will not work - in order to get the correct result, it is better to use a regular pregnancy test. Ovulation tests should only be used when you want to determine the most favorable time for conception.

What is the best ovulation test

Today, there are several types of tests for determining ovulation:

  • Test strips, the cheapest and most in demand. Since it can be quite difficult to determine ovulation the first time, usually one package contains 5 strips (tablets), although there are also single ones;
  • Test cassettes are quite convenient to use and affordable, although more expensive than test strips;
  • Electronic saliva tests are expensive and take time to figure out how to use them. The principle of operation of these tests is that when dried, saliva crystallizes and forms a pattern that can be seen when viewed through a microscope - before ovulation, the pattern will resemble fern leaves. However, an electronic test is not suitable for everyone, since it can be quite difficult to draw an unambiguous conclusion from a drawing.

By familiarizing yourself with the types of tests, you can determine which ovulation test is best for you. Often, women use the simplest disposable ovulation tests (the test strip is wetted with urine or immersed in a container with it). The procedure is recommended to be repeated daily at the same time until 2 strips on the ovulation test testify to a positive result.

Many ladies think that calculating the favorable moment for conception and the onset of pregnancy are almost the same thing just because both can be checked with tests. They are actually two different processes. Is it wise to do it during pregnancy? Some ladies believe that there is a sense in this, since the two red stripes that are displayed on it confirm a successful conception. Let's see if this is true.

Is it possible to determine pregnancy with an ovulation test?

To determine ovulation tests are needed that have a reaction to the woman's urine (LH). In the female body, its concentration reaches a peak at the time of the release of the egg and its passage through the fallopian tubes. This process can take up to 24 hours. During this period, the probability of fertilization of the egg is as high as possible, and, as a result, the ovulation test will show two strips.

If it is necessary to determine whether conception has occurred, then you will need a test that already reacts to chorionic gonadotropin (hCG).

With its help, already in the first days of the delay, you can determine whether conception has occurred or not. Both tests are used in a similar way, but they react to completely different hormones. One contains reagents for the detection of LH, and the other for hCG. This means that a pregnancy detection tool will not allow you to determine a favorable date for conception, just like a device designed to detect ovulation will not help in determining pregnancy.

What will an ovulation test show during pregnancy?

Sometimes ladies decide to do an ovulation test in the early stages of pregnancy. And they are extremely surprised when they see two stripes. They decide that this test is able to determine not only the optimal time for conception, but also its success, while the pregnancy test is completely unsuitable for calculating ovulation. But such a result cannot be called reliable.

This paradox can be explained by the fact that, although hCG and LH are responsible for different processes in the body, their structure is similar. Moreover, ovulation tests are more sensitive than pregnancy tests, as the level of luteinizing hormone during ovulation rises slightly compared to the amount of human chorionic gonadotropin that is produced in the body of a pregnant woman. As a result, a pre-delay ovulation test may mistakenly respond to an increase in the level of hCG in the urine. And in this way, a woman can find out about pregnancy even before she uses a test specially designed for this.

Some pharmacists advise using an ovulation test to determine pregnancy in the early stages before a delay occurs. In this case, the second strip on the test will be brighter than the control, but in fact, this is a false result. It is better not to get carried away with such checks, as they can give unreasonable hope for a successful conception.

An ovulation test always responds to an increase in LH levels. But an increase in the concentration of this hormone is not always due to ovulation. The cause may be various disorders in the body, such as hormonal dysfunction, etc. As a result, an ovulation test can give a positive result during pregnancy due to exposure to completely different hormones that are not associated with LH.

An ovulation test can prove effective if used as directed. He does an excellent job of identifying the day most favorable for the conception of crumbs. But if you need to find out if a woman is carrying a new life under her heart, then it is better to use generally accepted special tests.

Girls always want to know the result of their efforts to conceive early, and therefore they experiment with tests even before the time specified in the instructions. Sometimes a pregnancy test shows positive ovulation, while the strip to determine the result did not give out. Consider the causes and features of such situations.

How Ovulation Tests Work - Comparison

It is a well-known fact that the natural level of sex hormones exists in certain ratios at different stages of the menstrual cycle, which is taken as the basis for creating reagents for detecting ovulation or pregnancy. The strips are sold in all pharmacies, are readily available and easy to use. Any woman can perform analytics herself at home.


Let's try to figure out what their action is, what is the difference and what situations can occur. First, let's compare the principle of operation of both:

  • The ovulation strip is impregnated with a reagent that evaluates the amount of LH in the urine. The surge of the hormone indicates the fact of the release of the egg. The reagent here is very sensitive, it must determine the growth of LH, which does not change so much proportionally.
  • The pregnancy strip fixes the content of human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) in the blood, which grows exponentially every day during conception, increasing every 2 days by 2 times. Therefore, the reagent itself is very weak.

Positive ovulation test during pregnancy

Theoretically, a test for cell output cannot show the presence of a fetal egg, and for pregnancy - the moment of rupture of the follicle. But some curious ladies conducted such an experience, knowing about their interesting position, and received a positive test for ovulation during pregnancy. These results are explained by the fact that LH and hCG are similar in structure, and since the perception of the reagent for the first hormone is very high, it erroneously gives a false positive result, reacting to hCG or other hormones produced at the time of embryo development.


Positive for ovulation and negative for pregnancy

And in the case of early embryonic growth, an ovulation test can be positive, but negative for pregnancy.

A pregnancy test gives an actual answer only a few days after the first delay, when the concentration of hCG rises significantly.

The content of LH and hCG - features

100% trust in such dubious results is not worth it. It is necessary to use this product for its intended purpose, since we remember that the level of LH depends on the phase of the cycle. While the follicle is growing, it is present in small quantities. The rupture of the bubble provokes the release of this hormone, which is what the strip strips show, and after 1-2 days its value returns to its original value again.


HCG, on the other hand, begins to grow only at the onset of conception, and a full-fledged response can be obtained 15 days after the release of the cell and its fertilization, of which 7 days are required for the passage of the fetal egg and fixation to the uterus. Therefore, do not rush and do everything according to the instructions in the specified time frame.

Positive pregnancy test during ovulation

When conducting stimulation with special drugs, when an hCG injection is used, you can get a positive pregnancy test during ovulation. But, of course, this answer will be false, since the cell has not yet met with the sperm, and everything is explained by the increase in the level of chorionic gonadotropin, which entered the body with an injection.


There may be cases when the reagent did not record ovulation at all. The phenomenon is explained by the individual characteristics of each woman. After all, LH levels are normal for everyone. For some ladies, cell release occurs with a weak test strip, that is, the LH surge is so insignificant that it cannot be read by the test, while for others, even 2 bright stripes do not always indicate readiness for fertilization (with an increased content of it in a normal state).

Quite often, women mistakenly believe that establishing a favorable time for conception and fertilization that has occurred are the same thing, because. calculated using similar tests. In fact, an ovulation test during pregnancy can be used. This tool is likely to show a positive result.

Is it possible to determine the onset of pregnancy with an ovulation test?

To determine the time of release of a mature egg from the follicle, a substance is used that reacts to the presence of residues in the urine of a woman. In the body, its maximum concentration is noted immediately during ovulation. Typically, this process takes about 24 hours. The probability of successful fertilization of the female germ cell by spermatozoa in this period is very high. The ovulation test carried out at this moment shows 2 strips.

The fact of pregnancy is established using a test that reacts to the appearance in the urine of a hormone produced after fertilization.

Given that these 2 tests, which require the same procedure, contain different reagents, you cannot use an ovulation test to determine pregnancy and, conversely, a pregnancy test to determine the date of ovulation.

What is the result of an ovulation test during pregnancy?

Sometimes a woman decides to have it during a delay or early gestation. As a rule, in this case it displays 2 bars. A positive ovulation test is almost always noted during pregnancy, but it does not show the fact of gestation itself.

Such a result cannot be called reliable. The thing is that hCG and LH are very similar in their chemical structure. It should also be borne in mind that the sensitivity of tests for determining ovulation is higher, which is why it may erroneously react to an increase in the level of hCG that occurs after conception.

A negative ovulation test during pregnancy is direct evidence that the LH level is low at this time, as it should be normal. You can use this device at this time, but still the final conclusion is made on the basis of a pregnancy test.

The hormonal background of a woman changes during the month, it is influenced by a huge number of factors, including the day of the cycle, contraceptives, stress and much more. Therefore, it is difficult to determine whether your hormonal background is in order without special tests. For express diagnostics, home tests have been developed that allow you to determine ovulation and the onset of pregnancy. Everything seems to be simple, but women began to be interested in the question of whether ovulation tests can show pregnancy, or how it will behave if the egg is already fertilized.

This is a natural, monthly process by which a woman becomes capable of procreation. That is, it is directly the process of the release of the egg. It is there that conception should occur if a spermatozoon meets on its way. Women who are in harmony with their body are able to feel the approach of ovulation. During this period, sexual desire intensifies, nature knows when to look for a partner, a slight sensation of pain in the ovaries is possible. All this suggests that the right moment is approaching. To track this favorable period, you can use special tests. But the question is, can ovulation tests show pregnancy? Let's figure it out together.

How does an ovulation test work?

This is very important to determine the most favorable moment for conception. Many women who have been unable to conceive for a long time purchase these tests in large numbers, tracking the approaching release of an egg every day. The principle of this test is quite simple. The test strip determines the level in the urine. Shortly before the rupture of the follicle, the level of this hormone reaches its maximum level. As soon as you see 2 lines on the test, this means that ovulation will occur in about 12-48 hours. At the same time, do not forget that any test can fail. Make sure that the brightness of the test strip does not differ from the control, otherwise the result can be considered unreliable. However, if a woman plans to conceive, she is always interested in whether ovulation tests can show pregnancy. Numerous examples say that this is possible. Let's talk about this in more detail.

If a pregnant woman uses an ovulation test

First of all, we want to draw your attention to the fact that home tests are much less reliable than laboratory tests performed by doctors in a hospital. That is why quite often they can give out one for the other, pregnancy for ovulation, and vice versa.

Both ovulation and pregnancy are determined by the level of the hormone in the urine. Despite the fact that the hormones are different, such simple tests can easily be mistaken for one for the other. at ovulation and at the time of conception, it looks about the same for them. That is why it is possible to answer yes to the question of whether ovulation tests can show pregnancy, but the reliability of such a method will always be in question.

Different tests: what will we measure

Theoretically, an ovulation test should only determine the maturation and release of the next egg. It is clear that if you are pregnant, then this is impossible, but there is a huge amount of evidence that an ovulation test shows pregnancy much faster than a specialized litmus test.

Sometimes women confuse these two types of tests, sometimes in a pharmacy they are mistakenly sold not what they ask for. As a result, you can ask: can an ovulation test show pregnancy - and get an affirmative answer. While pregnant, many girls received Others for the sake of interest, already knowing for certain about their pregnancy, they checked the result of an ovulation test, and it also most often turns out to be positive.

False indicators

Before saying whether an ovulation test can show pregnancy, it should be warned that in any case this is the result of an imperfect diagnostic system, which means that such indicators cannot be trusted. If you are pregnant, the result of the test, once becoming positive, will not turn into a negative one. If this happens, you should immediately tell your doctor about it.

At the same time, an ovulation test can show pregnancy, but only because chorionic gonadotropin and luteinizing hormone have similar formulas, and the test has not only high sensitivity, but also a fairly large error.

It turns out that these tests are interchangeable?

Not certainly in that way. If we talk about whether the pregnancy test after ovulation will show the coveted two strips, then any doctor will say that it is unlikely, because he has much less sensitivity. For a reliable result, you must wait for the first day of the delay. It is for this reason that a pregnancy test is not used to determine the onset of ovulation, its sensitivity is clearly not enough. They will not be able to fix a slight increase in lutein.

One instead of the other

However, the situation is different with the second test strip. Whether the ovulation test shows pregnancy has been discussed for many years in all forums. Yes, it really does show. Therefore, it is possible to use it to diagnose conception, although it is not economically feasible. The cost of such a test is several times higher than the price of the most expensive pregnancy test.

However, it is the sensitivity of this strip that determines its popularity among women. We have already said that its sensitivity is much higher, therefore, when answering the question of whether the ovulation test shows pregnancy, it should be noted that it can show the result long before the first day of the delay, which can be so difficult to wait due to constant experience.

Hormone hormone strife

After we have determined that you can get an answer about your interesting position using an ovulation test, the question arises about the accuracy of this method. That is, it is logical to ask, does an ovulation test always show pregnancy? No, this method does not give 100% accuracy, because initially this litmus strip has other tasks. In order for you to determine the onset of ovulation, a test is used that is soaked in reagents to detect LH hormone in the urine. Its maximum concentration occurs in the urine precisely during the release of the egg. If you get clear two stripes, then ovulation has already occurred and the optimal time for conception has come.

To determine an interesting position, it is necessary to use another test impregnated with reagents that react to the hCG hormone. From the first day of delay, you can get clear two stripes, which indicates that you are really pregnant. Thus, it is clear that these two tests respond to different hormones, and therefore, one does not replace the other. Ask any physiologist or doctor about whether ovulation occurs during pregnancy, and get ready for the fact that he will be very surprised. Of course not, the tasks of this mechanism have already been completed. The egg was released into the fallopian tube, was fertilized and implanted in the uterus. Until the very birth, a new egg will not form.

What kind of results can you get?

You should not use an ovulation test during pregnancy. The accuracy of this method is zero. The bright two stripes that a pregnant woman receives in the early stages are nothing more than a mistake. Such a diagnosis does not carry any value, and for a period of 4 weeks this method stops working, that is, the test stops showing the result.

However, the reliability of such studies in general should be questioned. If your body functions like a clock, then you yourself will perfectly understand when you ovulate, and you will also feel the first signs of pregnancy. If there are various failures and violations, then you should not trust such test strips, you need to consult a doctor.

Summing up

An ovulation test is not intended to determine pregnancy, no matter how you are convinced otherwise. What many women managed to note is nothing more than an accident, a mistake, a failure in diagnosis, which most often happens in the early stages of pregnancy. To be completely sure of the results, you need to wait for the first day of the delay and take a pregnancy test. Another way to reliably determine an interesting situation is to take tests at a clinic. Therefore, if you are asked if an ovulation test shows pregnancy, feel free to answer no.