Since the earliest recorded history, women have had a strong desire to know whether they are pregnant as early as possible. The body goes through countless changes in the first trimester, and one of the first indicators is a change in the hormones that leave the body through urine.
Ancient Egyptians relied on a form of urine testing to determine pregnancy status way back in 1350 BCE. A woman urinated daily on wheat or barley seeds and if the plants grew, it meant she was pregnant. Modern-day validation suggests that test was about 70% accurate in detecting human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG), a hormone produced by a woman’s body soon after implantation of a fertilized egg inside the uterus.
Thankfully, urine-based pregnancy tests have evolved substantially. Women now have access to advanced tests that can detect a pregnancy as early as eight days after ovulation. But while many home pregnancy tests are marketed as simple and effective, getting accurate results comes down to how early in your ovulation cycle you take the test.
Ovulation generally occurs around day 15 of a 28-day cycle. In a normal pregnancy, an egg is fertilized in the fallopian tube and then travels into the uterus, where it implants in the uterine wall. After implantation, production of hCG starts from cells in the developing placenta (tissue that will feed the fetus). Trace levels of hCG can be detected as early as eight days after ovulation.
That means you could get positive results several days before you expect your period to start. However, the first part of your cycle is more variable than the second, making it tricky to determine the best time for an early test.
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