You've got to Change Your Cheating Ways

It is so tempting to just snatch one of those Clear Blue Easy kits off the shelf and run home and cheat…but do you really want to do that? Using home pregnancy tests after IVF is not uncommon. I usually know who did it because they are bouncing around the office on the day of the blood test (having seen positive home tests every day for 5 days). However, I have seen positive blood tests in spite of a negative urine test and vice versa. So what can I say. If you do it and cheat you can always post anonymously on the INCIID board and I will give you my 2 cents worth…just use a good pseudonym.

With that sound advice here is the “Question of the Day” from the book that has broken the advanced sales records for all of the other patient-centered books that I have written.



78. When can I do a home pregnancy test after IVF?

Hormonal detection of pregnancy may be performed by testing for the presence of the hormone beta-HCG in either the urine or the blood. Both types of tests are reliable and highly accurate. Sometimes, however, a home urine pregnancy test can be misleading and give a spuriously negative or positive test result when performed too early (regardless whether the desired pregnancy is from an IVF treatment or a spontaneous conception). Performing a pregnancy within 7 days after the egg collection procedure can result in a false-positive result because of residual HCG after the shot is given to trigger the final maturation of the eggs. In addition, the urine pregnancy test may be spuriously negative if performed less than 14 days after the embryo transfer. In our practice, we have had patients with a serum beta-hCG level of more than 200 IU who nevertheless had a negative urine pregnancy test. We advise patients to obtain a blood pregnancy test 12 to 14 days after an IVF embryo transfer and to avoid home pregnancy testing. In-office blood pregnancy tests provide the most reliable and accurate result.