Most women know their own bodies very well, with great insight into its ebbs and flows. But how well do you know your ovaries? Without them our lives and our bodies would be very different indeed. Here are some fun and interesting facts on your body’s most vital reproductive organ. Eggs A baby is born with all the eggs she will ever have throughout her lifetime. At birth a woman’s ovaries will hold hundreds of thousands to millions of eggs. Throughout a woman’s lifetime only about 300-400 of those eggs will become mature and be released for fertilization. By the time a girl reaches puberty, her egg count will have diminished to around 400,000. By the time she reaches menopause she will only have about 400-500 eggs. Size, Shape, and Texture Ovaries are grayish-pink in color, have an uneven surface, and are about the shape and size of an almond The size of the ovaries change depending on the woman’s age, being larger during her reproductive phase and shrinking after menopause. The uneven surface of the ovary is caused by cystic structures. These are actually normal, as the structures represent different stages of egg growth and development. Function The ovaries serve two main functions. Producing eggs, or ovum, of which one is released approximately every 28 days. The ovaries also produce and secrete hormones, such as estrogen and progesterone, which stimulate the female reproductive organs and initiate puberty and menopause. During the first part of your menstrual cycle before ovulation, the ovaries produce mainly estrogen. Estrogen is responsible for the development of female reproductive organs and the menstrual cycle. After ovulation, production focuses mainly on progesterone, which helps maintain a normal menstrual cycle. Progesterone is important during pregnancy and after for milk production. More hormones are released during pregnancy than any other time in a woman’s life. The ovaries’ male counterpart is the testes..
