A user on TikTok has sparked discussion after calling out pregnancy tests created by the company ClearBlue.
In a video with over 2.5 million views as of Sunday, TikTok user Andie (@yagirlandie_) says that, following a shorter-than-usual period, she asked her husband to pick her up a pregnancy test. When he returned, he had purchased her a blue dye test made by ClearBlue.
“I never buy blue dye tests because they are known for having false positives with their lines,” explains Andie.
Upon taking the test, Andie learned that, according to the test, she was pregnant.
However, Andie wasn’t too sure. So, the following day, she went to her local Dollar General and bought another test, this one a pink dye test. After taking the test, she learned that she was not, in fact, pregnant.
As a result of this predicament, Andie says she’s swearing off blue dye tests like ClearBlue.
“First Response—sponsor me, baby,” she states. “I always buy these. First Response has, I’m telling you, never done me dirty.”
While ClearBlue and other blue dye pregnancy tests are generally reliable, their readings can be confusing due to their prominent “evaporation lines.”
As explained by Kate Freeman for OVUM, “Blue-dye tests have garnered a reputation for producing blue evaporation lines. It remains uncertain whether these tests are genuinely more prone to evaporation lines or if the lines are more likely to be mistaken for a positive result, as a greyish evaporation line can resemble a blue positive line.”
“The vast majority of the women we surveyed believe that tests using pink dye are a necessity as blue dye tests are renowned for leaving evaporation lines,” writes Freeman.
@yagirlandie_ I was like 🙂👀…😐 #pregnancytest #notpregnant ♬ original sound – Andie
In the comments section, users shared their own less-than-pleasant pregnancy test stories.
“My false positive turned into twins,” claimed a user.
“I can only do digital tests bc otherwise i’ll carry that test around for an hour looking at it in different angles and lighting convincing myself i’m pregnant,” added another.
“Clear blue did me so dirty the test said negative and I was indeed pregnant with twins,” offered a third.
Update 11:59am CT, April 16: In an email to the Daily Dot, a Clearblue spokesperson shared the following: “Results are only valid for the first 10 minutes after wetting, ignore any lines that appear after that time as the test is no longer valid after the stated read time. This is true for all lateral flow pregnancy tests and other similar diagnostics like COVID 19 tests. Clearblue pregnancy tests are over 99% accurate from the day the period is due, when used according to the instructions.”
The Daily Dot reached out to Andie via email.
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