30+ Surprising Things People Learned About the Female Body That They Had to Share
There’s a lot about the human body that people think they understand, but when it comes to female biology, even the basics can surprise folks. And let’s be honest—some of these lesser-known facts are so wild, it’s no wonder people couldn’t help but share them. Thanks to a prompt from Redditor u/fushaman, users in the TwoXChromosomes community started a lively discussion, revealing some of the most interesting and unexpected truths about female anatomy and reproduction. If you thought you knew it all, these might just prove you wrong.
We all have subjects we’re less familiar with, and it’s totally normal not to know everything. But there are a few areas—like basic biology—that you’d expect most people to understand, at least a little. Still, it turns out that the details can get pretty complex and often fly under the radar.
That’s why a post by Reddit user u/fushaman sparked so much interest. Members of the TwoXChromosomes community chimed in with some incredibly eye-opening facts about female reproductive health. A lot of the things they shared are surprisingly specific and not commonly discussed. So if you’re ready to pick up something new, keep reading—you might be in for a few surprises.
A person can be pregnant without an embryo.
As in, the body will be preparing to support a fertilized egg: all the hormones, an amniotic sac, forming a placenta…but the amniotic sac can turn out to be empty because the egg doesn’t develop.
This is why abortion is healthcare. It is always the termination of a pregnancy in the body of a person. It doesn’t always involve a potential future life, but it often is the only thing that can save an actual existing life.
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This s**t can grow all around your Pelvic and belly. I complained for years about excruciating pain and was always turned away. So, I had a whole cluster f**k of extensive scar tissue gluing my reproductive systems to my intestines, bladder and upper belly cover.
I suffered from digestive issues because food couldn’t pass properly. My periods were extra horrible because my uterus would literally pull everything down everything it acted up.
I had surgery to have a hysterectomy concerning other issues and also had a lot of the scar tissue removed. I can finally eat normally again without fearing to throw up or have to s**t from the most mundane dishes.
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Women have longer colons and small intestines. In addition women have a slower stomach emptying. All in all that means our disgestion time is longer than men and we absorb more nutrients from our food. It is believed this is to help support pregnancy and breastfeeding.
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1. The ends of the fallopian tubes are open, so when you cramp hard sometimes blood can backwash into your abdomen – it’s okay, your immune system deals with the blood and cleans it up, but that’s also how ectopic pregnancies in the abdomen can happen
2. When an egg releases from the ovary, it isn’t attracted to the fallopian tube, the fallopian tube is attracted to the egg – the egg releases a chemical and the open end of the fallopian tube is attracted to it. This is why if you’ve had a fallopian tube removed, your fertility doesn’t cut in half, the other side’s fallopian tube can noo-noo itself around to the opposite ovary to collect that egg! Madness
3. When an egg is fertilised and it implants, it takes a little while for the placenta to form and begin nourishing the fertilised egg. The egg still needs energy in order to divide and develop, so the uterus secretes what is called ‘uterine milk’ to sustain the egg until the blood supply comes in (and I believe continues to support alongside the placenta).
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It’s part of what makes us so susceptible to hemorrhage and preeclampsia. And it’s so much harder for humans to miscarry, because we can’t just shunt off our own arteries.
Brain development is just very oxygen hungry. We give birth at the time that the baby’s oxygen needs outstrip our ability to breathe for them and ourselves at the same time. It’s not really hip width!! The hip width thing is mostly a male-gaze reading of the birthing process.
It also allows people to act as if what’s dangerous about childbirth is the birth canal issue. It’s not! Human pregnancy is dangerous because our bodies are literally playing a kind of oxygen-chicken. Cesarean section doesn’t change this fundamental fact.
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It’s called a dermoid teratoma for anyone interested.
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28% of PMDD sufferers attempt s****de by age 30.
It’s NOT just you. You are NOT imagining it. Look it up.
Practitioners who treat it are few and far between, but they do exist. Go outside your health plan’s provider list if you must.
It’s worth it. The world needs you.
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Ovarian cancer starts in the tubes! Best to get those pesky fools removed! (I’m getting mine done in March. So excited!).
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Menopause appears to be a rare trait in the animal kingdom. It has only been documented in humans, certain species of whales, and one specific community of wild chimps.
Scientists theorize a “grandmother hypothesis”, believing that females stop reproducing to be leaders and pass on wisdom. It has also been part of the theory that females might enter menopause to help care for their grandchildren. But in the chimp community where menopause was observed, grandmothers never meet their grandchildren. Their daughters leave the group before they ever have offspring.
The position of the cervix changes throughout the month, it’s normally low and open during menses and high and closed in the luteal phase just beforehand.
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Our bodies go through a sort of second puberty around age 25 that causes our bodies to change in a way that will benefit pregnancy. Increased mass in the hip area, larger breasts, increased fertility, and subsequently periods worsening.
Ovulation and menstruation are two different things. You can have one without the other. You can actually skip a period and still ovulate. One is done by the uterus and one is done by the ovaries, and they don’t always work together but it’s nice when they do.
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Milk ducts are modified sweat glands.
Breastfeeding is associated with a decreased risk of breast cancer. Probably most of us have heard that. Animals like dairy cows have basically no risk of breast cancer because they spend their lives producing milk. But, you might have heard somebody try to claim that abortion causes breast cancer (it doesn’t, btw). Anyway, that stupid argument comes from the above fact. As in, they’re trying to say that if a pregnant person does not abort and instead carries their child to term AND breastfeeds for two years, then that person will have a much reduced chance of breast cancer. Which is partly true but not the same at all as abortion causing breast cancer. But they’ve been running with that one for years.
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Not directly organ related, but chainsaws were invented to assist with childbirth.
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Contrary to popular belief:You still ovulate and menstruate if you get a tubal ligation. The ovum is reabsorbed and the menstrual bleeding is sourced from the lining of the uterus, so tying tubes does nothing to stop them from happening. A hysterectomy only removes the uterus and maybe the cervix. You don’t go into early menopause unless you get an oophorectomy, removing your ovaries.You still have your vagina after a hysterectomy, Jesus f**k people I hate having to field this question.If you are on the combined oral contraceptive you do _not_ need to bleed. It’s not a real period, and it’s not necessary, so spare yourself the trouble and ask your doctor if you can get on continuous birth control and skip the placebo week.
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When you hit menopause/perimenopause, you can get genital acne. Yay. It is supposed to be normal, but it’s very annoying.
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If you scratch inside your bellybutton quite hard, you may feel a strange pain or sensation near your genitals. It’s the remains of the vestigial nerve connection between the umbilical chord and other organs, which existed when you were in your mother’s womb .
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It’s not a closed system. The fallopian tubes are not connected to the ovaries. They catch the eggs that are explosively ejected, and we just hope for the best.
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During childbirth, we often focus only on dilation (the opening of the cervix),but effacement (shortening of the cervix) is just as important: the cervix must be fully effaced before it can fully dilate.
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Your ovaries move around. I once had to have an ultrasound with a full bladder and they couldn’t find one of them for like 15 or 20 minutes. It was excruciating and I nearly peed myself.
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I’m currently pregnant. Both in this pregnancy and my previous one I noticed a lot of rib pain on just my right side. When I talked to my midwife about that she said that makes sense because the right side of the pregnant womb is more curved and soft while the left side is more straight and firm. It’s not a perfectly symmetrical oval as shown in many science textbooks.Thankfully the pain has gone away in the third trimester as that good ole relaxin hormone kicked in.
Your reproductive organs shrink as you age- uterus, vagina, fallopian tubes, and ovaries.
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It’s possible for some women to orgasm from an intense core workout!
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I passed out when pregnant while laying in my back, I pressed the wrong nerve apparently.
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I learned recently (if any doctors are around, please confirm) that the length of your cycle depends only on when ovulation occurs, because the time between ovulation and your period never changes. So if your period is late, it means that your ovulation was late (from stress at the beginning of your cycle for instance, or due to other syndromes that can delay ovulation).
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I found out the uterus supplies about half the blood to the ovaries. So even if you keep the ovaries they will still shrink and put you into perimenopause and it menopause.
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