What Does the Female Reproductive System Do?

 

What Does the Female Reproductive System Do?
The female reproductive system enables a woman to:
· produce eggs (ova)
· have sexual intercourse
· protect and nourish the fertilized egg until it is fully developed
· give birth
Sexual reproduction couldn't happen without the sexual organs called the gonads (pronounced: go-nadz). Although most people think of the gonads as the male testicles, both sexes actually have gonads: In females the gonads are the ovaries. The female gonads produce female gametes (eggs); the male gonads produce male gametes (sperm). After an egg is fertilized by the sperm, the fertilized egg is called the zygote (pronounced: zi-gote).
When a baby girl is born, her ovaries contain hundreds of thousands of eggs, which remain inactive until puberty begins. At puberty, the pituitary gland, located in the central part of the brain, starts making hormones that stimulate the ovaries to produce female sex hormones, including estrogen. The secretion of these hormones causes a girl to develop into a sexually mature woman.
Toward the end of puberty, girls begin to release eggs as part of a monthly period called the menstrual cycle. Approximately once a month, during ovulation, an ovary sends a tiny egg into one of the fallopian tubes. Unless the egg is fertilized by a sperm while in the fallopian tube, the egg dries up and leaves the body about 2 weeks later through the uterus. This process is called menstruation (pronounced: men-stray-shun). Blood and tissues from the inner lining of the uterus combine to form the menstrual flow, which in most girls lasts from 3 to 5 days. A girl's the first period is called menarche (pronounced: meh-nar-kee).