Q: I got married a year and half ago. I had irregular periods before marriage. I conceived within 3 months of marriage but had to terminate the pregnancy in the 5th month due to acarnia (brain and neck not being formed). The doctor scanned and said that there was no PCOS. Thereafter, I had regular periods. We got all the tests done and everything was normal except the karyotype result, which showed translocation of (8,18) in me and normal in my husband. But me and my siblings are all very normal without any major abnormalities. The geneticist mentioned that I have only 50% chances of a healthy pregnancy. We used to have sex but never took a risk as we wanted to give a gap to recover. We never used any condoms or pills, it was calculated sex. My last menstrual period was on the 7th of last month and the doctor asked us to have sex on 13th, 15th and 17th. We did so and I haven't got my periods since then. I tried 4 home pregnancy tests but all came out negative. The blood test showed HCG < 2. However, I do feel some symptoms like cramps in abdomen, backache, frequent urination and bloating. The doctor asked me to take a pregnancy test, saying that, if it was negative then she will start Regesterone tablets for 5 days. Can I still be pregnant even if the test is negative? What are these tablets for?

A:The most confirmatory test for pregnancy is serum beta HCG. The home pregnancy tests have different sensitivities; the most sensitive in India detects urine HCG at 20mIU/mL of urine. I would suggest you take Tablet Duphaston 1 tablet daily for 6 days rather than regesterone for a withdrawal bleed. The former does not cause any problems to the baby if by a miracle you have conceived (which you will know if you do not bleed even after 7 days after the last tablet).