As members of the animal kingdom, one of the basic instincts of humans is to birth the next generation, to ensure the survival of their clan. In earlier times, there was no sure-shot way of telling if a woman was pregnant in the early phase of the gestation period. In those times, women would mostly look to a cessation of menstruation, but since an irregular menstrual cycle can also be a symptom of a disease, it was not always an accurate way of ascertaining pregnancy. With time and technological advancements, women can now purchase home-use pregnancy test kits.
Thus, with technological advancements and easy availability of these products, the female fertility and pregnancy rapid test market is expected to grow at a healthy pace around the world. In fact, these test kits are so popular in the Western world that ‘Peeing on a stick’ has become a common phrase, depicted in TVs, books, and movies. Apart from wanting to know if women are pregnant, another reason for the increasing demand for such products is the decreasing fertility rate. As per the World Bank, the worldwide human fertility rate had dropped drastically to 2.432 in 2017 from 4.979 in 1960.
This means that compared to almost five in 1960, a woman was able to give birth to just above two children in 2017, on an average. In some places, the fertility rate is even lower; a 2018 article by BBC says that the fertility rate in the U.K. was merely 1.7 in 2017. Significant credit to this drop goes to people who have realized the danger of the burgeoning population and are themselves making the conscious decision to have fewer children. Elsewhere, a number of diseases and poor lifestyle, in general, are responsible for the declining fertility rate.
With people becoming more aware of being able to test pregnancy at home, the demand for female fertility and pregnancy rapid test kits is rising. These save people the trouble of going to laboratories for the initial test, which, in turn, helps saves money. Once the pregnancy is established, people can schedule regular visits with a gynecologist/obstetrician. Further, if the lab test comes out negative, people might feel as if they wasted the money, which is also why home-use test kits are witnessing rapidly increasing sales.
Further, many people are delaying pregnancy, either to focus on their career or enjoy life to the fullest before the responsibility of raising a child comes along. From the late 20s, the chances of women carrying a baby start dwindling gradually, and the decline becomes even sharper from the age of 35. In this case, for people deliberately delaying pregnancy, test kits become even more important, to ascertain whether the woman has conceived successfully or not.
Luteinizing hormone (LH), follicle stimulating hormone (FSH), and human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) are the three types of test kits available, among which the LH type are the most popular. Similarly, at a pharmacist or superstore, cards/cassettes, midstreams, and strips/dipsticks are available for ascertaining pregnancy. The largest female fertility and pregnancy rapid test market is currently North America, owing to its rapidly increasing number of females, who are prone to uterine malformations, fibroids, and polycystic ovary disease (PCOD). This creates a high demand for products and test kits to determine the hormonal balance.
Hence, as women become more aware of ways to test pregnancy at home, in a few simple steps, the demand for test kits which let them do that will also increase.
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