Ovary
ovum-producing reproductive organ, often found in pairs as part of the vertebrate female reproductive system
The ovary (from Latin ōvārium 'egg') in the human female reproductive system is a gonad, a gland that produces sex hormones, and also controls the development and release of the egg cell (the female gamete). The ovarian follicles that contain the oocytes, also produce and secrete inhibin to suppress the action of follicle stimulating hormone released by the anterior pituitary.
The paired ovaries are located one on either side of the uterus, and connect with the uterus through the fallopian tubes. They are held in place by the ovarian ligament, and the suspensory ligament of the ovary.
The ovary progresses through many stages beginning in the prenatal period through menopause.
Many of the structural and functional features of the human ovary are shared with other mammals and vertebrates and ovaries of some kind are found in many invertebrates. This article is primarily about the human ovary.
Structure
At puberty each ovary measures around 3 cm in length by 1.5 cm wide and is 1 cm thick, and sits in a depression in the lateral wall of the pelvic cavity. This depression is called the ovarian fossa and measures around 4 cm x 3 cm x 2 cm. The fossa is bounded above by the external iliac artery and vein, in front by the obliterated umbilical artery, and behind by the ureter.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Ovary” as ovum-producing reproductive organ, often found in pairs as part of the vertebrate female reproductive system. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
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Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 21, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q9631. The Library of Congress control number is sh85096184. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank.
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This entry incorporates text from “Ovary” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.