The two ovaries are where a woman’s eggs are stored and where they mature. They are located in the lower part of the abdomen. If you want to get a sense of where your ovaries are located, put your finger on your navel and move it in a direct line to the top of your leg. When you have moved your finger one-half of the way there, your finger is over your ovary. There is one ovary on each side—one on the left and one on the right. Each ovary is about the size of an almond.

A baby girl has 1 million immature eggs in her ovaries when she is born.

Fallopian Tubes

A fallopian tube opens into each side of the uterus to allow an egg to pass from the ovary to the uterus. One end of each tube opens into the uterus; the other end opens very close to an ovary. When an egg is released, it can easily enter the open end of a fallopian tube. Each tube has fine hair like fringes (cilia) that sweep a mature egg from the ovary into the tube. The contractions of the fallopian tube and the movements of the cilia move the egg toward the uterus.

The hymen is very important to some people as a sign of virginity. They believe that a woman whose hymen is stretched open has let a boy or his penis in her vagina. But that isn’t always true, because some women are born without a hymen. Others stretch and break theirs open during normal physical activities. Some bleeding may result when a hymen is torn. Something as simple as playing sports, horseback riding a bicycle can break the hymen. A bride’s virginity is highly prized in cultures that demand that women’s only sex partners be their husbands. Bleeding during intercourse is believed to be a sign of virginity. In these cultures, bed sheets
are examined for signs of blood after a wedding night. If blood is found, the female is considered to have been a virgin. However, a woman may be a virgin and still not bleed during her first intercourse.

The G-spot and female ejaculation

The G-Spot is thought to contribute to female orgasm and female ejaculation. It was once believed that only urine passed through the female urethra. However, researchers have recently studied female ejaculation. In some women, a clear fluid spurts out of the urethra during intense sexual excitement and during orgasm. In some women, this fluid is urine and not a true ejaculation. In other women, the fluid is similar to the fluid produced by the prostate in men. It is estimated that about 10 percent of women experience this kind of ejaculation.

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• vagina

• cervix

• uterus

• fallopian tubes

• ovaries

All these organs are supported by a bone and muscle structure called the pelvic girdle. Both men and women have a pelvic girdle. It is more developed and wider in women because it has to support a fetus during pregnancy. This is why girls’ and women’s hips are often wider than the hips of boys or men.

Vagina

The vagina is the structure that connects a woman’s external sex organs to her internal sex and reproductive system. The opening of the vagina is in the middle of the vulva, beneath the opening of the urethra. The vagina is a flexible passage that is four to five inches long. In its relaxed state, the soft, moist walls of this tunnel-like structure touch against each other like the walls of a collapsed balloon. Like a balloon, the vagina has the ability to enlarge a great deal.