Men Vs. Women: Thinking on the Pregnancy Test

"What do you need?" he asked casually.

"Um, I was actually thinking about picking up a pregnancy test." I was a little nervous because I had never taken one before, and I wasn't sure if we were ready for a baby or not. I was only a day late, but I just had this "feeling" that I was pregnant.

My husband surveyed me skeptically. "Why do you want to take a test? How late are you?"

"A day," I admitted. "But I just have this feeling. They're only like $4, so it's no big deal if it's negative," I reasoned.

"But why take a test that's going to be negative only to get your period tomorrow?" He stood his ground.

"Because if I'm pregnant, I want to know. It's not like they're expensive. We can just do it and have the peace of mind now."

It isn't that my husband was concerned about the money. He wasn't. The pregnancy test, I found, represents a monumental difference in thinking between men and women.

We stopped at the store and got the test.

When we got home that night, he tried again, "Why don't you at least just wait until tomorrow? Then, when you get your period you won't regret taking it and you could save the test for later."

"Because I want to know right now!" I said as I headed for the bathroom. After a couple of minutes there was no second line. I couldn't stand watching the little window any longer, so I headed to the living room and told my husband.

He tried to conceal a smug look that said, "I told you so."

After about another minute I went back to the bathroom for a final look. A second, very faint line had appeared. I was pregnant.

I had my husband come into the bathroom and look, while I tried to conceal a smug look that said, "Never question a woman's intuition."

This was not the end of our disagreements over the value of a pregnancy test. My husband summarized his opinion the other day when he said, "Why take a test when you'll find out eventually anyway?"

I gasped. "You have no idea what you're talking about! When you have a person growing inside of you, you want to know about it. You need to take care of yourself, take prenatals and....you just need to know."

He was unmoved by my theatrical outburst. In his mind, "You're going to find out eventually, so why spend the money?"

I tried to explain to him how a positive test solidifies the reality in a woman's mind that she's pregnant. I reasoned that since the tests are so inexpensive, you might as well take one and have the peace of mind.

After our discussion, I realized that I will never change my husband's mind on this issue. As a woman, I feel taking a test is practically a constitutionally protected right. For a man- who has no idea what it is like to carry a baby, by the way- taking a test is completely unnecessary because, sooner or later, a woman will find out on her own.

The phrase "Men are from Mars, women are from Venus" seems more accurate than ever.