Pregnancy can be detected as early as about 6 to 10 days after conception by sensitive blood tests or home pregnancy urine tests.
Detection timeline
- Implantation of the fertilized egg in the uterus usually occurs around 6 to 10 days after ovulation, and at this point the hormone hCG (human chorionic gonadotropin) starts to be produced.
- Sensitive blood tests can detect pregnancy about 6 days after implantation, roughly 7 to 10 days after conception, due to their ability to detect very low levels of hCG.
- Home urine pregnancy tests generally become accurate about 9 to 10 days after conception, which corresponds to around the time of a missed period for many women. Some very sensitive urine tests claim to detect hCG levels as early as 8 days after ovulation.
- For most accurate results, it is recommended to wait until the first day of a missed period, about 14 days after ovulation, when hCG levels are higher and easier to detect.
Methods of detection
- Pregnancy blood tests: Detect very low levels of hCG as early as 6-10 days after conception.
- Home pregnancy urine tests: Usually accurate from about 9 to 10 days after conception or around the first missed period, with some sensitive tests detecting as early as 8 days post-ovulation.
Overall, pregnancy can reliably be detected starting around the time of a missed period (approximately 2 weeks after ovulation), though some sensitive tests may give earlier positive results 6 to 10 days after conception by detecting hCG in blood or urine.
