Home Pregnancy Test: Know The Woman And The Whole Story Behind It

Today, most women come to know of their pregnancy through the use of home pregnancy tests bought from stores. Through the efforts of a woman working in a pharmaceutical company, women have the convenience of learning if they are pregnant at home without having to go through doctors to find out.

Margaret Crane worked at Organon Pharmaceuticals. In 1967, she saw test tubes, which were actually pregnancy tests, in their company. Back then, women had to send their urine to doctors, which would then be sent to laboratories for analysis, the results of which would be sent back to doctors who would then relay the results to patients, according to an article in the New York Times about Crane's invention 

Could Women Be Trusted With Their Own Pregnancy Tests? @nytopinion w/comments by @EricTopol https://t.co/RFU3od051p pic.twitter.com/DwrQVm1qOl

— STSI (@ScrippsSTSI) July 29, 2016

Uproxx also reported on the article on Crane's journey in inventing the home pregnancy test to make it easier for women to know if they are pregnant. According to the report which quoted The Times' article, Crane made the model for the home pregnancy test using a clear plastic box that used to be a container for paper clips.

The box held an eyedropper, a test tube and an eyedropper inside it. Women would reportedly have to squeeze urine in the test tube then look at the mirror to see the bottom of the test tube to see if after two hours, a red circle appeared which would mean she was pregnant.

Crane showed her home pregnancy model to her bosses and they rejected it. Jezebel reported on the Crane article in The Times as well, quoting that Crane's home pregnancy test would not sit well with the doctors, the company's clients. They also had more scary consequences in mind, such as women committing suicide if they found out that they were pregnant.

Unknown to Crane, her idea was presented to their parent company in the Netherlands and it was approved. Crane' model was eventually used and Crane was named inventor. The home pregnancy test was called Predictor and sold in Canada in 1971. It was sold in the United States in 1977 after much fear was raised such as use of teenagers and women's capability of using the home pregnancy test.