Ovulation is the release of an egg from one of a woman's ovaries. After the egg is released, it travels down the fallopian tube, where fertilization by a sperm cell may occur.
Ovulation typically lasts one day and occurs in the middle of a woman's menstrual cycle, about two weeks before she expects to get her period. But the timing of the process varies for each woman, and it may even vary from month to month.
Menstrual cycle and ovulation
At birth, a female fetus has 1 to 2 million immature eggs called oocytes inside her ovaries, which is all the eggs she will ever produce, according to the Cleveland Clinic. By the time a girl enters puberty, about 300,000 of these eggs remain. Approximately 300 to 400 of the remaining eggs will be ovulated during a woman's reproductive lifetime, the Cleveland Clinic says.
A likely sign that a woman is ovulating is that she is having regular, predictable periods that occur every 24 to 32 days, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
With every monthly menstrual cycle, a woman's body prepares for a potential pregnancy. The cycle is regulated by hormones, including the sex hormones estrogen and progesterone, as well as follicle-stimulating hormone and luteinizing hormone. Hormones play a key role in all stages of the menstrual cycle, allowing the ovum (egg) to mature and eventually be released.
When a mature egg leaves a woman's ovary and travels into the fallopian tube, a sperm cell can fertilize the egg. Sperm can live inside a woman's reproductive tract for about 3 to 5 days after sexual intercourse, according to the Mayo Clinic. For pregnancy to take place, a sperm cell must fertilize the egg within 12 to 24 hours of ovulating, according to the Mayo Clinic. The fertilized egg then travels to the uterus, or womb, where it can attach to the lining of uterus and develop into a fetus.
During ovulation, the walls of the uterus also thicken to prepare for a fertilized egg. But if the egg is not fertilized, the uterine lining is shed about two weeks later, causing menstrual flow to begin. But simply having her period does not always indicate that a woman is ovulating.
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