Ovaries

Ovary
Blood supply of the human female reproductive organs. The left ovary is the oval shaped structure visible above the label "ovarian arteries".
Details
Artery	ovarian artery, uterine artery
Vein	ovarian vein
Nerve	ovarian plexus
Lymph	Paraaortic lymph node
Identifiers
Latin	ovarium
MeSH	A05.360.319.114.630
TA	A09.1.01.001
FMA	7209
Anatomical terminology []

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 (the left), while the other remains vestigial. Ovaries in females are analogous to testes in males, 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.

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.

In humans the paired ovaries lie within the pelvic cavity, on either side of the uterus, to which they are attached via a fibrous cord called the ovarian ligament. The ovaries are uncovered in the peritoneal cavity but are tethered to the body wall via the suspensory ligament of the ovary which is a posterior extension of the broad ligament of the uterus. The part of the broad ligament of the uterus that covers the ovary is known as the mesovarium. The ovary is thus considered an intraperitoneal organ.