Scarleteen

Uh, hi. I'm a transgender male (born female, transitioned to male), I'm on hormone therapy, so my hormones are basically the same as a cis (natal) male. I mostly date cis guys, and I was wondering, would pregnancy tests work with my hormones? Like, would they be accurate? Thanks

Hi cthuwu,

Welcome to the boards!

So I've done a bunch of digging and the best answer I have right now is "probably". Pregnancy tests look for a specific hormone, human chorionic gonadotropin, which is produced by placental tissue and I've yet to find anything in the literature to suggest that oestrogen or progesterone blockers or testosterone would interfere with that. That said, if you suspect you could be pregnant the best thing is to contact your healthcare provider to confirm as there's very little good information out there. I'm going to see if any of our other staff know more too!

Since you're asking the question, I'm guessing that you know that hormone therapy likely reduces your fertility but won't prevent it, so if you're having the kinds of sex that can create a pregnancy some form of contraception is still needed. Do you want to talk about what contraception options you have that fit with your existing therapies and your gender?

The other reason to speak to a doctor if you suspect you might be pregnant is that if you decide you want to carry the pregnancy, your current hormonal therapy is bad for the foetus so you'd need to talk through the next steps.

Update! I've had a check with some other staff, and they have confirmed what I thought - yes, pregnancy tests should work for you

Thanks for the answer! And I do use contraception that works, it's just a general question. Thanks again