Menstrual Cycle From Puberty

An essay on the female reproductive cycle from puberty through the menstrual cycle to fertilisation

First of all before girls start the menstrual cycle they go through puberty, this is a process of physical, behavioural and psychological changes that prepare the girls’ body for childbirth and their reproductive cycle.

Female puberty can be described in five different stages, the first happening when the girl is still a child usually lasting from the age eight to eleven. The child will have no visible changes on the outside but in their bodies they are producing hormones that will lead on to reproductive development. Their ovaries can sometimes enlarge due to the change in hormones.

The second stage is really the beginning of puberty, this happens when the girl is aged eight to fourteen but the average is around eleven to twelve years old. The girls begin to notice physical changes such as breast buds beginning to form, the nipples become raised and the areola becomes bigger. Other physical changes that occur are putting on weight rapidly and having a spurt of growth where the girl will start to grow taller. Pubic hair begins to grow on the labia but is very sparse, fine hair.

The third stage can happen from the ages nine to fifteen although usually happens from twelve to thirteen. Breast continue to grow and become much more full and round, one can grow more than the other so therefore they can be different sizes which is completely normal. The growth spurt continues and limbs get longer, hips widen so the waist can look smaller. Pubic hair becomes coarser and dark, the vagina begins to discharge a fluid which can be white or clear in colour. The vagina also starts to enlarge but cannot be seen from the outside and one fifth of g...

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...us barrier in the cervix opening to protect the embryo that could be growing in the uterus.

Fertilisation is when the spermatozoa reach the mature egg in the fallopian tube. It happens generally through sexual intercourse and the spermatozoa are ejaculated into the vagina, it travels through the cervix opening and meets the mature ovum in the fallopian tube. All it takes is one sperm cell to fertilise and egg. The sperm cell (male) and egg cell (female) are each called haploid cells; these are cells with one set of twenty three chromosomes. So when the egg is fertilised with a sperm they make a diploid cell which is the two sex cells combined therefore has two sets of twenty three chromosomes which is equal to forty six altogether. When this has happened the embryo can begin to develop and grow into a baby, a cycle which usually takes nine months to complete.