After getting a negative result on a home pregnancy test, it's fair to conclude that you're not pregnant. However, if you happen to glance back at the test later in the day, you may be surprised to see that a positive line has magically appeared. There are a few reasons why this can happen. However, in most cases, the originally reading of the test, "not pregnant," is typically the correct one. Show
What Are Evaporation Lines on a Pregnancy Test?The instructions on most pregnancy tests will advise you to read the results within a certain window of time. This usually ranges between a couple of minutes up until 10 minutes later. If you see a positive result beyond this time frame, you may be left second-guessing the results. However, the false-positive reading, in this case, is due to something called an evaporation line. Evaporation lines are not indicative of a true positive result. Evaporation lines happen when the urine that was on the test area starts to dry. The chemical composition of the urine sample changes due to evaporation. As a result, the test may start to display a positive line. After the allotted time has passed, you should discard the pregnancy test to avoid confusion. If you follow all of the instructions correctly, you may notice a thin, faint test line that appears within a few minutes. It can seem at first that the line is too faint to count, but after 10 minutes, it darkens. There are several possible explanations for this line:
False Negative ResultsWhile true false negative results are rare, there are multiple reasons why you could get a negative or faint result even if you are actually pregnant, such as not waiting long enough into your cycle to test or testing with diluted urine. Always use a sample from your first-morning urine (which is more likely to have higher concentrations of the pregnancy hormone, hCG). If you are still unsure about pregnancy test results, wait a few days and test again. If you have any questions or concerns about whether or not you could be pregnant, consult with an OB/GYN. A Word From VerywellIt can very stressful to see conflicting results on a pregnancy test, such as faint lines or evaporation lines. If you're unsure about your results, retest in a couple of days or talk to your doctor about a follow-up blood test for confirmation. Following the directions on your pregnancy test helps avoid the confusion or disappointment of a false positive. Verywell Family uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.  By Robin Elise Weiss, PhD,
MPH Thanks for your feedback! I know how hard it can be sometimes to tell if it's a line or not. When I was trying to conceive, I remember squinting at pregnancy tests trying to work out if there was a faint line or not. In fact, I always asked my husband to check – and then I admit I may have sometimes done a repeat test to be sure! Why is the line so faint?If the line is faint, then it is likely that you are testing very early on in your pregnancy. A pregnancy test is designed to show a line if it detects, in the urine you dipped it into, a threshold level of a hormone called human chorionic gonadotrophin (hCG). Levels of hCG rise rapidly in the early weeks of pregnancy, are at their highest at about 10 weeks of pregnancy, and then slowly fall again. But if you're taking the test very early on in your pregnancy, your levels of hCG will be small, meaning that, although there is enough for be detected by the test kit, it is only enough to create a faint line. Can a faint line ever mean I'm not pregnant?A false positive pregnancy test is extremely rare ("false positive" means the test is positive but you are not actually pregnant). That's assuming, of course, that you haven't used a test that's past its expiry date or are 'reading' the result long after the wait time outlined on the packet. A false positive can occur if you are on particular medication, such as a fertility drug containing hCG, or if you have a medical condition, such as an ovarian cyst, which can raise your hCG levels. A pregnancy test may also be falsely positive if you have recently had a miscarriage or termination of pregnancy, as it takes a little time for the hCG levels to fall. It is also possible that you can have a genuinely positive pregnancy test and then, a few days later, if you test again, it's negative. This is because urine home pregnancy tests are extremely sensitive and can pick up a pregnancy in the very early stages – and, unfortunately, not all pregnancies progress past these very early stages. If the pregnancy doesn't progress, then a new test will show as negative. This is called a chemical pregnancy – or a very early miscarriage – as it tends to occur before a heartbeat can be seen on the scan, so before approximately 5 or 6 weeks of pregnancy. In this situation, bleeding tends to start soon afterwards but, if it does not, then please see your doctor. So if I get a faint line, should I do another test?Yes, that's what I'd recommend – but leave it a couple of days or so. Levels of hCG double every 48 to 72 hours in the 1st weeks of pregnancy so the line on the pregnancy test may be stronger when you test in a few days' time. I'd also recommend that you make sure you do the pregnancy test the first time you wee that day as that's the time of day when your wee is likely to be more concentrated. What's hCG exactly – and how do pregnancy tests work?HCG is a hormone that's made initially by the embryo itself, and then by your placenta, and has various roles, from supporting the corpus luteum (what is left when the egg is released) to supporting implantation. The pregnancy test works by absorbing your urine onto the pad or strip of the pregnancy test and, if there's hCG present in that urine, it will bind to antibodies which are attached to the coloured dye in the test that forms the blue or pink test line – and make that line show up. If there is no HCG present in your urine, and you are not pregnant, there are no antibodies to bind to the dye, so no line forms. There is generally a control line in a pregnancy test to check that the test is working. In a positive pregnancy test, both the test line and the control line should be seen. About our expert Dr Philippa KayeDr Philippa Kaye works as a GP in both NHS and private practice. She attended Downing College, Cambridge, then took medical studies at Guy’s, King’s and St Thomas’s medical schools in London, training in paediatrics, gynaecology, care of the elderly, acute medicine, psychiatry and general practice. Dr Philippa has also written a number of books, including ones on child health, diabetes in childhood and adolescence. She is a mum of 3. Pics: taken from the MadeForMums Chat forum Read more
Can you see a faint line on a negative pregnancy test?A very faint line may also occur if the urine is too diluted to detect hCG. Drinking a large amount of fluid can dilute the urine and skew the results. If a faint line becomes a negative test result the second time around, it could be the result of a very early miscarriage in the first few days and weeks of pregnancy.
How does a faint pregnancy line look?If no hCG is detected in your urine, only the control line will appear pink colored. If hCG is present in the urine, both the test line and control line will appear pink. Two pink lines indicate a positive result, even if one line is fainter than the other.
How does a negative pregnancy test look?Negative Pregnancy Test
For two-window tests, the first window would show the test line and the second window would show a single line that looks like a minus (-) symbol. This means you are not pregnant. On a digital test, a negative test result will say “Not Pregnant” or “No” to indicate that you aren't expecting.
Is a faint line a weak positive?If the window on the testing stick shows two lines, the tester is positive for COVID-19. The opaqueness of the lines also can indicate more, Vail said. If the line is fainter, the patient is likely to be less sick, less infectious, or might be nearing the end of infection, Vail said.
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Pictures of negative pregnancy test with faint lines
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