Is it worth buying a home pregnancy test? How do they work?

No, you cannot tell the gender of a baby using a home pregnancy test. They test for the presence of the HCG hormone and can give a yes or no answer as to whether the woman is pregnant. There are some new gender kits on the market that claim to tell the gender of the baby about 10 weeks after conception but that's not the same as a pregnancy test.

At the Fertility Store, you can buy early pregnancy test strips that come in a pack of 20. http://www.fertilitystore.co.uk/Departments/Pregnancy-Tests/Bulk-Early-Pregnancy-Tests---All-Formats.aspx

Yes there are two
different types of pregnancy tests. One is a blood test for the hormone HCG
which you would have to do through your doctor. The other is a urine test which
also detects HCG and can be done through your doctor or using a home pregnancy
kit.

There are certain brands of home pregnancy tests that can detect the HCG hormone which is present in pregnancy at very low levels. If it's listed on the packet, try and buy a brand that says it can detect from 20mIU/ml. Some tests are more sensitive to early pregnancies than others, but don't worry, most pregnancy tests are reliable and accurate up to between 97% and 98%.

Soon after
the urine has been absorbed onto the stick a line will appear in the control
window. This does NOT mean a positive pregnancy result - this is just showing
you that the test is working. If you don\'t get a line in the control window
within 10 minutes, the test is not working.

A color changing tip that comes with some of the more expensive home pregnancy tests is just an extra way of showing the user that the test is actually working. The actual result of the test appears in the result window - you have to read the specific instructions to be fully sure how a positive result will appear on that particular test.

Most home
pregnancy tests give a final result within 2 minutes of coming into proper
contact with the urine flow.

It is a kind of quiz. Where you have give answers for all the questions. Based on your answers they will give the result.

Don't worry - if you got a negative result, the chances are that you are not pregnant. Home pregnancy tests are about 97%-98% reliable. But if you are still really worried, go and see your doctor.

Home pregnancy tests are not always 100% reliable and sometimes a woman can get a negative result even though she is pregnant. I would try another test and if that's still negative and your symptoms continue, go to your family doctor.