Pregnancy tests are not as simple as they show in advertisements. It’s not simply a pink line appearing by magic and telling you that you are pregnant. Pregnancy tests are like small laboratory tests made user-friendly.
An expired pregnancy test is an old home pregnancy test that cannot test pregnancy any longer.
The over the counter pregnancy tests have a complicated reaction of hormones and dyes to detect pregnancy. Any small mistake made while taking pregnancy test can give a false pregnancy test.
A false pregnancy test brings a lot of damage, stress, and anxiety. Getting a wrong pregnancy test result can even create health issues.
When does a pregnancy test work?
A pregnancy test works when you have enough hCG hormone in your urine. It is a pregnancy hormone that comes along urine in pregnant women.
But more importantly, you should know when does a pregnancy test not work?
An expired pregnancy test or broken pregnancy test doesn’t work. A home pregnancy test is just like medicine and has a shelf life.
Can pregnancy tests expire?
A pregnancy test indeed gets expired after a span of one to two years. It is because a pregnancy test has a dye and hCG antibodies. These organic particles have a lifespan and after that they become useless.
Do pregnancy tests expire?
All pregnancy tests expire irrespective of the fact how good they are. In the end, the detector particle of a pregnancy test is an hCG antibody!
The antibody is like the fighter cells we have in our body. They can detect and bind to any foreign particle.
The hCG antibodies detect the hormone hCG in urine and bind to them. And antibody has a structure that has two handles and tail.
If these handles are no longer functional, then pregnancy test will not work. Pregnancy test expiration is mainly the breaking of these handles of hCG antibodies.
When do pregnancy tests expire?
A pregnancy test expires when it completes about a period of one to two years from manufacture.
The expiry date of pregnancy tests is specific for each pregnancy test. Pregnancy tests from even the same brand may have different expiry dates.
Standard pregnancy tests may have a shorter lifespan compared to a digital pregnancy test expiry.
Standard pregnancy tests have hCG strips with or without a plastic cover. Digital pregnancy tests have hCG strips encased in a plastic body.
But, the pregnancy test expiration has nothing to do with the plastic. A pregnancy test expires mainly because of hCG strip.
How long do pregnancy tests last before expiry?
A pregnancy test lasts in its best state from the manufactured date until the expiry date. How long does a pregnancy test lasts will depend on how good it is. Pregnancy tests have a long lifetime.
The pregnancy test expiry date might not be written directly. The expiry date of pregnancy tests is on the flipside of the pack. It will not be a particular date. Instead, the year and month of expiry are stated.
Now another question that you may ask is what is the expiry date of the pregnancy test? Abiding by the medical council rules these expiry dates of a pregnancy test are six months in advance.
Nevertheless, you’ll take it as the last date of given month. Say if the expiry is 2017-09 then you’ll consider it as 31st of September of the year 2017. Pregnancy tests will work until the last date before expiry.
Most pregnancy tests might work even after a day or two from expiry. But you cannot rely on the accuracy of an expired pregnancy test.
Expired pregnancy test accuracy
Can an expired pregnancy test be accurate? A pregnancy test doesn’t expire on the day immediately. It is not a spontaneous reaction that takes place with a poof!
The pregnancy test starts losing its ability to work since the day of manufacture. As time passes, it becomes less and less accurate.
Bottomline is you can never trust expired pregnancy test’s accuracy.
Is an expired pregnancy test accurate?
Saying either that expired pregnancy test result is valid or not isn’t technically correct. An expired pregnancy test may give right results in some case.
Expired pregnancy test positive will show in many cases. Nonetheless, the accuracy of expired pregnancy test results is not reliable.
If you decide to test anyway with the expired kit, remember that expired pregnancy test negative could be false. Relying on the expired pregnancy test false negative can be injurious for both you and baby.
Can I use an expired pregnancy test?
Will an expired pregnancy test work? It may work but the results of the expired pregnancy test will always be a suspect.
A tip about expired pregnancy tests. NEVER buy a pregnancy test very close to its expiry.
If you already have an expired pregnancy test, then you can use it! What is the point of throwing it away unused? Use the expired pregnancy test but do not rely on its results.
But if you are buying pregnancy tests then never get an expired pregnancy test.
Can I use Expired Digital Pregnancy Test?
No, expired digital pregnancy test is just as inaccurate as an expired standard home pregnancy test. You cannot rely on it.
Do expired pregnancy tests work?
Some women tell us that expired pregnancy test worked for them and they saved few dollars!
The story could end here, but we also get an equal number of women asking us that albeit they took the test cautiously yet got false results. It is the case when the pregnancy test is broken or expired.
- Women forget the critical step of checking the expiry date of pregnancy tests. Expired pregnancy tests may be present on the stand, and if you don’t look carefully, you buy it.
- Expiry date given on the box may be different from the expiry date mentioned on the kit. It could be because of packaging flaws during manufacture or if the shop stocks up in the old box. You should always consider the date of expiry of the pregnancy test.
- Another vital point is the pregnancy tests expire after ‘two to three years from manufacture’. Some women think that once they get a pregnancy test, it will be functional for two years from that time. No, a pregnancy test could already be old enough or expired while at the store.
Do early pregnancy tests expire?
Early pregnancy tests are more sensitive and can detect pregnancy six days before missed period. But no one can escape death, and early pregnancy tests expire too.
Early pregnancy tests also have the chemical which cannot function forever. A new early pregnancy test will work better than an old one. Early pregnancy tests may take longer but they too will expire.
Can expired pregnancy test give false positive?
An expired pregnancy test can give any weird results. It is possible that you get a test line without control line. A single line in test window is not reliable. Unless you see a control line do not count on the results of the kit.
Expired pregnancy test control line not showing is a sign of malfunctioning and vice versa.
Is my pregnancy test still good? Do pregnancy tests really expire?
Pregnancy Test expiration is something so unheard of that women may not even think of it. Pregnancy tests expire and have a lifetime.
An expired pregnancy test can still be good, but it is shooting an arrow in the dark. There is no guarantee about the accuracy of an expired pregnancy test results.
Hello I recently took Two pregnancy test and my expiration date where jan22 & Oct21 would that mean Jan 2022? & oct 2021 ? This is my first time taking a pregnancy test ever so I was very confused on how the expiration date worked …