OK, so this commercial for the test talks about some hormone marker thingie that allows the test to detect pregnancy five days before the first missed period. Color me clueless about matters reproductive, but isn’t the first missed period what generally clues women in to the idea that they’re pregnant? Does this really make any sense as a selling point?
I’m confused about the confusion. The purpose of a pregnancy test is to tell you yeah or nay if you are pregnant. The oldest method was to watch for stopped periods. That may take a while. Now, most OTC tests can give you the results firmly around the time of your period. Some tests can now tell you the results five days before the anticipated start of the period. Earlier means better.
My wife and I tried to conceive a child. I went down to the drug store and looked at the offerings. The early result tests were the ones that gave me the answer first (it was nay).
Missed periods are more common than people think. Stress can do it. Sudden weight loss or gain can do it. Illness can do it.
TMI Time:
The particular form of birth control I’m on (implanon) has the habit, for me at least, of nearly stopping my periods or making them very faint and irregular for the first 12 months or so of the 3-year cycle. I tend to have a slightly erratic menstrual cycle as it is, too, so a ‘missed period’ may just be one that’s slightly late or has been changed by the BC I’m using. Hubby and I don’t use any other protection apart from the implant, so from time-to-time it’s useful to get a pregnancy test, just to be ultra-sure that this time the skipped period isn’t because of a sprogling.
Emphasis added.
[sub]y’know, she’s supposed to be the one taking the test[/sub]
:eek: I better go get another test.
From the point of view of a woman who WANTS to be pregnant, this is a big selling point–no more waiting a whole month (or more) until your next period is due to find out if you are pregnant or now.
In point of fact, though, there are usually other smaller signs of pregnancy besides just a missed period, and some of them occur before you’ve actually missed a period. For example, the breasts get very sore, and the nipples normally change color. However, sore breasts are often a sign of impending menstruation for many women, so while the soreness is different, a woman who has never been pregnant before may not be able to tell the difference.
It’s also possible to be pregnant and not really miss a period, especially if your periods tend to be light anyway. With my second pregnancy, I had all the other early signs of pregnancy, but when my period came anyway, I chalked the other symptoms up to wishful thinking. A couple of weeks later, I still felt more pregnant than not, so even with a home test coming up negative, I went to the OB whose test registered positive. I miscarried a couple of weeks after that, though, so I think it was a pregnancy that just wasn’t meant to be.
No no. You’re angry about the wrong thing:
Damnit! No there isn’t! You are pregnant or you are not pregnant. Either Mr. Spermy has flown up the cramhole and made buddies with Ms Egg (she’s very modern and independent with her Ms) or he hasn’t. Period (no pun intended).
That commercial makes me mad every. single. time.
Thank you! I want to scream the same thing at the television every time that damn commercial comes on.
As others have pointed out, this test lets the woman know sooner than a missed period, so she can get prenatal care ASAP. Also, maybe the condom broke, and the couple is stressing out, and want to know now. The stress of worrying if you are pregnant or not can cause you to miss your period, which gives you a bigger scare, and the negative pregnancy test afterwards doesn’t take away the days/weeks of stressing out. Finding out now, before the period is less stressful for all concerned. 
Funny that most here have taken it from the POV of someone who does not want to be pregnant (w/ one exception). But for a couple who want to conceive, and have been trying to for a few months, it is a great stress releiver to know earlier.
Sex around the time of ovulation, particularly unprotected sex, might stir up the possibility that a woman may be pregnant.
My husband and I are trying to conceive right now (well, not right now, but you know what I mean.)
I am keeping track of stuff like temperatures and other things that are a bit TMI to determine when I ovulate, and the time between that and when my period is expected is torturous. Will it come? Won’t it? Am I? Am I not? The sooner I can test, the more likely I am to buy it.