It’s really important that you understand exactly what’s going on in your body now that you’re growing up. Your reproductive system is very complex, but knowing a little something about how it works will help you make sense of how you feel and how to stay healthy.

Your reproductive system is complicated, so the following is a simplified explanation of what’s going on in there. First, an egg, or ovum, is released from the ovaries, which hold thousands of these tiny eggs. The egg then travels through your fallopian tubes on its way to your uterus every month as part of your menstrual cycle. Your uterus is also called the womb, and that is where a baby grows inside of a pregnant woman. The uterus builds up a thick lining with blood and tissue to prepare for a fertilized egg, or an embryo, each month. The egg moves into the fallopian tubes and abdominal cavity in order to be “fertilized” by a male sperm cell, which gets there through sexual intercourse. Of course, a woman’s eggs won’t be “fertilized” every month, so the egg goes out of the uterus along with the extra blood and tissue from the uterus, which is a process known as your period.

The major parts of your reproductive system are:

• Uterus: This is the place where your eggs go every month and where a baby grows inside of a woman.
• Ovaries: These are the organs that store your eggs and produce hormones.
• Fallopian Tubes: They connect the ovaries with the uterus and they are paths the fertilized egg travels down.
• Birth Canal: This is the opening in your body that leads into your reproductive organs.
• Cervix: The lower part of the uterus that opens into the vagina.