1. Embryology of The Female Genital Tract
Basim Abu-Rafea, MD, FRCSC, FACOG
Assistant Professor & Consultant
Obstetrics & Gynecology
Reproductive Endocrinology & Infertility
Advanced Minimally Invasive Gynecologic Surgery
Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology
King Khalid University Hospital
King Saud University

2. Gonads
At approximately 5 weeks of gestation, the gonads are structurally consolidated coelomic prominences overlying the mesonephros, forming the gonadal ridges.
At this point, the gonad is morphologically indistinguishable as a primordial testis or ovary.

3. Gonads

4. Testes
The factor that determines whether the indifferent gonad will become a testis is called, the testes-determining factor (TDF), a product of a gene located on the Y chromosome.
The male phenotype is dependent on the products (antimüllerian hormone and testosterone) of the fetal testes which are secreated from Sertoli cells & Leydig cells.

7. Ovary
Ovarian differentiation are reflected in the rapid mitotic multiplication of germ cells, reaching 6–7 million oogonia by 16–20 weeks.

10. Female Genital Tract
In the absence of AMH, the fetus will develop fallopian tubes, uterus, and upper vagina from the paramesonephric ducts (the müllerian ducts).

11. Female Genital Tract
Canalization to create the uterine cavity, the cervical canal, and the vagina is complete by the 22nd week of gestation.
By the 20th week of pregnancy, the uterine mucosa is fully differentiated into the endometrium.

14. Anomalies
Anomalies can originate in the failure of the müllerian ducts
to fuse in the midline
to connect with the urogenital sinus
to create the appropriate lumen in the upper vagina and uterus by resorption of the central vaginal cells and the septum between the fused müllerian ducts.

15. Abnormal müllerian differentiation frequently is associated with urologic malformations.

18. Questions ?