Vaginal Fusion and Duplication
There are many functions of the female reproductive system. The ovaries make female egg cells, called ova or oocytes. The oocytes move down the fallopian tube where an egg may get fertilized by a sperm. The fertilized egg then moves to the uterus, where the uterine lining has gotten thicker. The lining has gotten thicker in response to the normal hormones of the reproductive cycle. The fertilized egg can implant into thickened uterine lining and continues to develop. If fertilization does not take place, the uterine lining is shed as menstrual flow.
Archived from the 2024 edition
Overview
In addition to making egg cells, ovaries produce female sex hormones, estrogen and progesterone, that maintain the reproductive cycle.
At conception, the mother gives an X chromosome and the father an X or Y chromosome. This combination forms a female embryo (XX), or a male embryo (XY). Early in pregnancy, the male and female embryo's inner and outer reproductive structures (genitals) look the same. Over time, the male embryo will develop testes (testicles) and the female embryo will form ovaries. These will secrete hormones that stimulate the "indifferent" genitals to form female or male structures. The vagina is one of the reproductive organs to develop first.
In this entry
The archived page carried these sections, in this order.
- Symptoms
- Diagnosis
- Treatment
- Explore Further