Ovary

The ovary (From Latin: ovarium, literally "egg" or "nut") is an ovum-producing reproductive organ, often found in pairs in the female as part of the vertebrate female reproductive system. Birds have only one functional ovary (left), while the other remains vestigial. Ovaries in female are analogous to testes in male, in that they are both gonads and endocrine glands. Although ovaries occur in a wide variety of animals, both vertebrate and invertebrate, this article is primarily about human ovaries.

Structure

In the case of human ovaries, each one is whitish in color and located alongside the lateral wall of the uterus in a region called the ovarian fossa. The fossa usually lies beneath the external iliac artery and in front of the ureter and the internal iliac artery. It is about 4 cm x 3 cm x 2 cm in size.

Usually, ovulation occurs in one of the two ovaries (at random) releasing a fertilizable egg each menstrual cycle; however, if there was a case where one ovary was absent or dysfunctional then the other ovary would continue providing eggs to be released without any changes in cycle length or frequency.