when were pregnancy tests invented

June 28, 2026

Pregnancy tests, in some form, go back to ancient Egypt, but the first modern laboratory pregnancy tests were developed in the 1920s, and the first home pregnancy test kits appeared in the mid‑1970s.

Ancient beginnings

Long before science understood hormones, people still tried to answer “am I pregnant?” using creative methods.

Ancient Egyptian texts from around 1500–1300 BCE describe a woman urinating on wheat and barley seeds; if the grains sprouted, they took it as a sign of pregnancy.

Greek and medieval physicians also used urine’s look and behavior as a rough sign, but these approaches were not reliably accurate by modern standards.

These very early tests were more ritual and observation than true science.

First scientific pregnancy tests (1920s)

The real turning point came when scientists discovered a hormone found in pregnant women’s urine, now known as human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG).

In 1927, German researchers Aschheim and Zondek created the “A–Z test,” injecting a woman’s urine into immature mice or rats and then dissecting them to see if their ovaries had changed; a change meant pregnancy.

Variations soon used rabbits, frogs, and toads, making animal‑based bioassays the standard hospital pregnancy tests through the 1940s and 1950s.

So, “modern” pregnancy tests were essentially invented in the 1920s , but they were slow, expensive, and required lab animals.

From lab animals to immuno‑tests (1960s)

By the 1960s, new lab techniques transformed pregnancy testing from animal sacrifice to test‑tube science.

Researchers developed immunoassays that used antibodies to detect hCG directly in urine or blood, greatly improving speed and accuracy.

These tests still typically happened in hospitals or clinics, but they laid the groundwork for the kind of strip‑based kits people recognize today.

This is where the idea of a compact, chemistry‑driven kit really became feasible.

Invention of home pregnancy tests (1960s–1970s)

What most people mean by “when were pregnancy tests invented?” is “when could you first test at home?”

In 1967, designer Margaret Crane, working with a pharmaceutical company, created the first prototype of a home pregnancy test that let women use a lab‑style reaction in their own bathrooms.

A company patent for a home test followed in 1969, and the first commercial home pregnancy kits reached store shelves in the mid‑1970s, often requiring multiple steps and a wait of up to two hours.

From that point on, the “pee on a stick” idea slowly moved from controversial to normal.

Modern “pee‑on‑a‑stick” era

Today’s pregnancy tests are descendants of those early home kits but are faster and more user‑friendly.

By the 1980s, some brands offered results in around 30 minutes, and later innovations shrank that to just a few minutes with clear lines or digital words like “pregnant.”

Modern tests can often detect pregnancy very close to the missed period, with high accuracy when used correctly.

So in everyday terms, home pregnancy tests were “invented” in the late 1960s and became widely available and recognizable by the 1970s.

TL;DR:

Early urine‑based ideas: ancient Egypt, over 3,000 years ago.

First scientific hormone‑based test: 1920s (animal bioassays detecting hCG).

First home pregnancy test design: 1967, with kits reaching consumers in the 1970s.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.