Pregnancy

 

You have two small, grape-shaped ovaries inside of your belly on either side of your uterus (where a baby develops). Ovaries are filled with hundreds of thousands of eggs. You are born with ovaries. When you reach puberty and you are becoming a woman, your ovaries ripen the eggs and release one each month. Your pituitary gland in your brain releases chemical messengers, called gonadotropins, that "tell" your ovaries to release a mature egg once a month. This is called ovulation.

 

If you have sexual intercourse, a male can release sperm (which males have instead of eggs) inside of you. If one of these sperm reaches the egg that has been released (which is called fertilization), the egg will implant itself in the thick, bloody lining of your uterus. The egg and lining won't break down if the egg is fertilized, and no menstrual flow will pass out of your body. You won't get your menstrual period if the egg is fertilized. Instead, the fertilized egg will grow inside of your uterus. The fertilized egg is called a fetus when it begins to develop some of the parts of a real baby. A woman is said to be pregnant when a fetus is growing inside of her uterus. It usually takes about 9 months to develop from an egg into a baby that is ready to be born.

 

Written by the Center for Young Women's Health Staff

 

Updated 3/29/2006

 

Related Information:

• Go back to the Contraception/Birth Control Menu
• Q&A: Teen Pregnancy
• Related Links
  

 

 

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