Executives from e.p.t. want the original 1977 first production of its home pregnancy test to be displayed in the Smithsonian- but first they have to find one.
Executives from e.p.t. want the original 1977 first production of its home pregnancy test to be displayed in the Smithsonian- but first they have to find one.
The pregnancy test company is reaching out to the medical community to find an original test, which more closely resembled a chemistry set than today's modern version of a stick or wand.
"There have been many milestones in women's health, but the introduction of the home pregnancy test ranks among the most important," said Jennifer Moyer, vice president of marketing for INSIGHT Pharmaceuticals, LLC, the parent company of e.p.t. "By helping women to discover whether they were pregnant at an earlier stage, the test enabled women to take control of their personal health and begin prenatal care immediately. It allowed a woman to make the lifestyle changes that would ultimately affect her own health, as well as that of her baby."
This year marks the 35th year of e.p.t. test production.
"It also empowered women to own that moment of revelation and to share it with a spouse or other family members, or to discover it alone, at their discretion," Moyer said in the release. "For these reasons, we believe an original home pregnancy test kit deserves a place in the Smithsonian. It's truly a monumental innovation."
So far, the company has not been able to find any of the original tests.
". . . the rare status of the test has sparked interest from the history office of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Dittrick Museum of Medical History at Case Western Reserve University, among others, in obtaining an original kit for their collections," the release stated.
Finding an original test could be a challenge because they are meant to be thrown away.
"We're calling on the medical and pharmaceutical communities to check storage areas at their respective businesses, talk to their peers, and utilize any resources at their disposal to try and track down an original home pregnancy test," Moyer said.
"We're hopeful that someone, somewhere, may have held onto that chemistry set-like kit and will contact us. Weʼd ultimately like to donate it to a museum for public viewing to underscore the cultural importance of test."
Early pregnancy tests "helped to pave the way" for diabetes and hypertension home diagnostic tests, according to the release.
Anyone with information about an original test should contact e.p.t. online.