The New Yorker published an essay by Apoorva Tadepalli questioning the binary nature of being pregnant, suggesting there could be degrees of pregnancy based on uncertainty with early tests. The piece was criticized for its framing, particularly when the magazine promoted it using phrases like "kind of pregnant." Critics such as Roxanne Hoge and Elizabeth Barcohana argue that pregnancy is a clear biological state beginning at conception, not subject to interpretation or uncertainty about viability.
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Story summary
The New Yorker published an essay titled "The Unsettling Ambiguity of Early Pregnancy" by Apoorva Tadepalli, which sparked controversy. The piece discussed the uncertainty surrounding early pregnancy tests and viability through personal experiences with multiple miscarriages and a current pregnancy. The magazine promoted the article on X social media, suggesting that someone could be "kind of pregnant," "a little bit pregnant," or in another state of pregnancy ambiguity before testing positive.
Critics like Roxanne Hoge, chair of the Los Angeles County Republican Party and mother of four, argued that uncertainty does not negate the fact that a woman is indeed pregnant. She expressed sympathy for the writer's experiences but criticized the piece as overly wordy regarding such fundamental biological realities.
Written for “Women And Pregnancy Tests Debate” on 2026-09-18,
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The New Yorker drew criticism Thursday after promoting an essay that described the binary distinction between being pregnant and not pregnant as "misleading" and said a woman could be "kind of pregnant" or "a little bit pregnant."
uncertain
woman → draw → distinction
The essay, "The Unsettling Ambiguity of Early Pregnancy," by Apoorva Tadepalli, examined the uncertainty surrounding early pregnancy tests, miscarriage and viability through the writer's experience with multiple pregnancy losses and her current pregnancy.
asserted
essay → examine → losses
The magazine promoted the piece on X by saying at-home tests capture only a moment when an embryo has implanted and that someone could be "kind of pregnant, a little bit pregnant, or almost pregnant, or maybe pregnant" while still testing positive.
uncertain
someone → promote → positive
Los Angeles County Republican Party Chair Roxanne Hoge, a mother of four, told Fox News Digital that uncertainty over whether a pregnancy will remain viable does not change whether a woman is pregnant.
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woman → tell → Digital
"As a mother of four and an actual biological woman, I must applaud the author for noticing that women do, in fact, make babies," she said.
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she → applaud → babies
"While I sympathize with her on the very sad reality of carrying a pregnancy after a loss, this was a lot of words to try and pretend that a fetus is a clump of cells.
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fetus → sympathize → cells
Elizabeth Barcohana, America First Policy Institute California Ambassador to the America First Women's initiative, said that the distinction should be between the existence of a pregnancy and whether a woman knows that pregnancy is viable.
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pregnancy → say → pregnancy
Pregnancy is a physical, biological state that begins when a fertilized embryo implants in the uterus and triggers a chemical hormonal reaction," Barcohana said in a Thursday statement to Fox News Digital.
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Barcohana → begin → Digital
It is about a woman’s experience about knowing whether she is carrying a viable healthy pregnancy.
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she → know → pregnancy
Tadepalli described testing positive during five pregnancies and spending periods of those pregnancies unsure whether she would miscarry.
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she → describe → pregnancies
She said those experiences affected her ability to emotionally embrace her current pregnancy, with much of the essay examining what early testing can and cannot tell women about what will happen next.
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what → say → women
Lisa Cusack, president of the Don’t L.A. My Burbank PAC, told Fox News Digital that she viewed the article’s framing as an attempt to make pregnancy more subjective while arguing that uncertainty in early testing does not change whether a woman is pregnant.
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woman → tell → testing
"This article just seems like a tortured attempt to make pregnancy into a subject experience in order to justify abortion," she said.
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she → seem → abortion
"The fact that an at-home pregnancy isn’t sophisticated enough to pick up the beginning stages of every pregnancy doesn’t mean you’re ‘kind of pregnant,’ or that pregnancy itself, which literally begins with conception and ends with birth, is ‘nonlinear.’
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which → pick → birth
"
"Women have always known that early pregnancies sometimes don’t take, or show up on tests, but that doesn’t change the fact that you’re either pregnant or not, whether you know it or not, or want it or not," she continued.
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she → know → it
Barcohana said that element of the essay was relatable to women who have experienced pregnancy loss and blamed The New Yorker’s presentation for shifting attention away from it.
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who → say → it
"The New Yorker’s editors betrayed the author with this provocative headline, because what she’s really talking about — in a vulnerable way that millions of women can empathize with — is the utility and impact on women of unreliable early testing," she said.
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she → betray → testing
"She tried to talk about something totally legitimate for women trying to start a family and they [editors] hijacked it."
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they → try → it
Fox News Digital reached out to The New Yorker for comment, but did not immediately receive a response.
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Digital → reach → response
The distinction between detecting pregnancy and determining whether it is viable is also reflected in medical guidance.
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it → detect → guidance
The Food and Drug Administration says at-home pregnancy tests detect human chorionic gonadotropin, or hCG, a hormone produced after a fertilized egg is attached to the uterine wall.
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egg → say → wall
The agency notes that testing too early can produce inaccurate results and that a positive home test does not provide information about how a pregnancy will develop.
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pregnancy → note → information
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists states that pregnancy begins when a fertilized egg implants in the uterus, while pregnancy viability can require additional evaluation as development progresses.
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development → state → evaluation
The Aporia
