Unit 13 – Introduction to Female Reproductive System Tissues

Introduction to Female Reproductive System Tissues

The female reproductive system consists of the ovaries which are the female gonads that produce oocytes (immature eggs), estrogens, and progesterone.  The female reproductive system also includes all the tubes and chambers that transport an oocyte after ovulation or sustain, protect, and nourish a fertilized egg, embryo, and/or fetus and eventually deliver a baby during childbirth.  This system of tubes and chambers is known collectively as the female reproductive tract.  The order of female reproductive tract organs starting at the ovaries and extending to the outside of a woman’s body is as follows:  oviducts (fallopian tubes), uterus, and vagina.  The female reproductive system also includes the female external genitalia that surround the external opening of the vagina known collectively as the vulva and the mammary glands (breast tissue) that secrete milk to nourish a baby after it is born.

As mentioned in the previous paragraph, the ovaries serve to produce immature eggs known as oocytes, and the hormones estrogen and progesterone.  Oocytes develop by the process of oogenesis within round, bubble-like structures known as ovarian follicles in the cortex of ovaries.  Meiosis occurs during oogenesis to produce an egg with 23 chromosomes that can become a human embryo if fertilized by a sperm.

The tutorials in this unit will focus on the histology and general functions of the ovaries, oviducts (fallopian tubes), uterus, endocervical portion of the uterus, vagina, and breast tissue.