1. Human Reproduction

2. Male Reproductive Structures

3. The Human Sperm The structure of a human male sperm:

4. The Human Sperm In order for the sperm to make its journey from the male body to the female egg, it needs to get nutrients from the male body. The seminal vesicles, prostate gland, and Cowper’s gland are accessory glands that release seminal fluid. Seminal fluid provides sugar for energy (the mitochondria absorbs this); it also protects the sperm from the acidic female reproductive tract; and Provides the fluid for the sperm to swim/move in The sperm and seminal fluid together make up semen

5. The Female Reproductive Structure

6. Path of the Egg If no sperm is found in the fallopian tube to fertilize the egg, the egg will make its way to the uterus and expel through the vagina. If fertilization does occur, it must happen within 24 hours of ovulation (when the egg is released) or the egg degenerates. The egg moves to the uterus, and once the uterus realizes that the egg is not fertilized, it then sheds the endometrium and starts to prepare for the next cycle.

7. Fertilization During intercourse, millions of sperm are released from the male and into the female. Only about 100 sperm will make its way to the fallopian tubes. Those 100 sperm try to penetrate the outer egg. As soon as one makes it (yhatzee!!!!!), the egg releases a protein that prevents other sperm from entering the egg. (WOW the human body is so amazing.)

8. Pregnancy If the egg is fertilized in the fallopian tube, the egg and sperm fuse together to produce an embryo. The Embryo reaches the uterus where it will implant into the endometrium.

9. Fertilization Upon a successful fertilization, the embryo grows for nine months (38 weeks) inside the mother to be and ends with the birth of an offspring. The nine months are divided into three trimesters (approx. three months per trimester). Image of a human sperm entering a human egg.