The Female Reproductive Anatomy

The Story

Picture the female pelvis as a set of nested, cooperating organs. The ovariesThe female gonads that produce eggs and hormones., almond-sized and tucked against the pelvic side walls, are gonads and endocrine glands at once: they house the egg supply and they secrete estrogen and progesteroneA hormone that supports pregnancy and regulates the menstrual cycle.. Reaching toward each ovary, the fallopian tubes (uterine tubesAlso called fallopian tubes, they transport the oocyte to the uterus.) flare into fringed fimbriaeFinger-like projections of the uterine tube that help capture the ovulated oocyte. that sweep a released egg into a narrow, cilia-lined canal — the exact place where fertilization usually happens, and a canal so fine that even slight external distortion can close the road. The tubes open into the uterusThe muscular organ where a fertilized egg implants and develops., a thick-walled muscular organ whose inner lining, the endometriumThe inner lining of the uterus that thickens during the menstrual cycle to support a potential pregn, is built up and shed each cycle. The uterus narrows to the cervix, which opens into the vaginaThe muscular canal connecting the uterus to the external genitalia., the muscular canal to the exterior.

Two features of this anatomyThe study of the structure of the human body. will matter enormously for Stina. First, the fallopian tube is delicate and externally exposed within the peritoneal cavity — its open, fimbriated end is bathed in the same pelvic space the bowel and peritoneumThe membrane lining the abdominal cavity and organs. occupy. Anything that scars that space can kink or seal the tube from outside. Second, the endometrium is an inflammation-responsive tissue under tight hormonal control, so its monthly building and shedding can be thrown off by signals that have nothing to do with the uterus itself. Map this anatomy carefully now; every FMF connection later lands on one of these structures.

From Stina’s chart: Stina’s pelvic imaging over the years noted a normal-sized uterus and ovaries but, on later scans, tethering and irregular contours around the adnexa — the structures this page maps.