REPRODUCTIVE SYSTEM

FEMALE REPRODUCTIVE SYSTEM:

- Ovaries: produce and release female gametes (haploid cells, have one set of
chromosomes, formed by meiosis. When a sperm fuses with an egg, they make a
diploid cell, which has all genetic instructions required to make a baby) and sex
hormones such as estrogen progesterone.
⇒ each ovary lives inside a fibrous sac that consists of a layer of connective tissue called
Ovulation: ovaries produce estrogen and progesterone
- As the level of estrogen begins to rise, it causes the normally thick mucus inside the
cervix to thin out. Estrogen also triggers other hormones to cause one of the ovaries
to release egg.
⇒ if a woman have sex during ovulation, a man’s reproductive cell (sperm) can pass through the
thinner mucus to fertilize an egg.
In the uterus, estrogen causes the lining to thicken, which prepares it to receive fertilized egg
⇒Rising progesterone level causes gland in the lining to release fluid that feed the fertilized egg
progesterone also causes the thinned out mucus in the cervix to become thick again, which
prevents sperms from passing through

If an egg hasn’t been fertilized, the level of estrogen and progesterone begins to fall. This
drop in hormones level causes menstruation (a process where the uterus sheds its inner
tissue lining and blood through the vagina)

Birth control pill: combination pill contains estrogen and progestin (a man-made hormone
which is similar to progesterone)
⇒ the estrogen and progestin in the pill maintain the hormone level. These levels prevent the body
from releasing hormones that cause ovulation. Without ovulation, there is no egg available for
fertilization, so woman cannot get pregnant