The likelihood of a false positive pregnancy test is very low, occurring less than 1% of the time. Most pregnancy tests are highly accurate (around 99%) when used correctly. False positives can happen due to certain factors such as recent pregnancy loss (miscarriage, abortion, childbirth), chemical pregnancy (very early pregnancy loss), medications containing hCG (often fertility treatments), certain medical conditions (rare ovarian cysts or tumors), and user errors like reading the test too late or using an expired test. Overall, a positive pregnancy test result almost certainly indicates pregnancy, but if there is doubt, confirmatory testing by a healthcare professional is recommended.
