Invitro fertilization, more commonly known simply as IVF, is an increasingly popular solution to help couples who are not able to conceive naturally. IVF is not only rising in popularity, but this medical procedure in which an egg is artificially fertilized and then implanted into a woman’s uterus is also becoming ever more successful. If you are among those who are undergoing IVF, there is no doubt that you are wondering how soon after one or more embryos were returned to your uterus you can take a pregnancy test.

After an embryo is transfered to the uterus, it will typically begin its struggle to implant itself into the endometrium immediately. Attachment to the uterine will will happen at around two to five days after the procedure. But this does not mean that women who underwent IVF can do a home pregnancy test that soon after the procedure. Because of the large amount of medications involved in creating a pregnancy through IVF, home pregnancy tests are not recommended at all for this procedure.

If an embryo has implanted into the uterus successfully, hCG, human chorionic gonadotropin, will start being produced very soon. Fertility clinics have varying policies on when they start pregnancy testing. But as a rule, reproductive endocrinologists will normally carry out blood tests that look for hCG levels at around nine to eleven days after the embryo or embryos were inserted into a woman’s womb. This is the time at which hCG levels are likely to be detectable in the mother’s blood stream.

Taking a urine pregnancy test after invitro fertilization carries an extremely high chance of false negatives, because they are much less sensitive than blood tests and can therefore detect much smaller amounts of the hormone hCG. If you have undergone IVF, in short, you will be able to find out whether you are pregnant at the same time after implantation as any other woman. The method will just be slightly different.