I live in the female pelvis and you can’t even feel my presence. We are twin sisters, loving each other, each guarding the right and left side of the womb. Our bodies are flat and oval, and we usually always wear off-white clothes. Usually in the adult body, my petite and delicate figure is 4cm * 3cm * 1cm, but when women reach 35-45 years old after I began to gradually shrink, to their menopause, I will gradually shrink to 1/2 of the original volume, although you will replace my existence with drugs in those years, but I still silently accompany you throughout your life, never leave. When I was in my youth, my position was very important. I am the most important organ in a woman’s body and can control her youthful charm, reproductive health and aging process. I began to awaken when you were about 11 years old at the onset of menstruation, regulating your development and maturity, gradually exercising my two main functions, one is to secrete hormones, the second is to produce eggs. At that time, you were so young and beautiful, your breasts were developed, your fat distribution was firm, your skin was smooth and delicate, your secondary sexual characteristics were unique and eye-catching, you were able to have your monthly menstrual flow, you were able to make a handsome young “prince” fall in love at first sight, and you were able to have your child conceived in your uterus, all because of the hormones I secreted. It’s all about my hormones. Each cycle, under the direct influence of various hormones secreted by my superior “pituitary gland”, I secrete three sex hormones: estrogen, progesterone and androgen, which are all cholesterol hormones, among which the normal secretion of estrogen and progesterone is closely related to your regular ovulation and menstruation. The main role of estrogen is to promote the growth and development of female reproductive organs and the appearance of all female characteristics throughout the body, while the main role of progesterone is to promote the transformation of the uterine lining in preparation for the fertilized egg to be laid in the uterus. The follicles secrete estrogen before ovulation and the corpus luteum secrete progesterone and estrogen after ovulation. These two hormones regulate each other, synergize with each other, and regulate each other to harmoniously maintain the functions of the whole female body. People always hope to test my ability through hormone measurement, but in the menstrual cycle, various hormones change a lot, and if you want to measure my blood concentration, you can follow the law of hormone secretion and doctor’s orders. When a woman is pregnant and has a baby, I take a break for ten months, and I gradually resume my monthly work only when the baby is weaned. If you lose the hormones secreted by me, not only will your reproductive organs and breasts shrink, but you will also age, lose bone mass, and lose your cognitive ability, just like premenopause. If you lose me before the age of 40, it is premature ovarian failure. In addition to the endocrine function, I have so many little follicles in my body, and they are the seeds that allow everyone to be a happy mother. The number of follicles each person has is different at different times: early childhood, adolescence, fertility, menopause and even old age, and as I get older, the number of follicles I have will get smaller and smaller. At embryonic stage, I already have many, many follicles, probably up to 7 million, but as the fetus develops, most of them degenerate, atresizing, and disappearing, leaving me with about 2 million follicles at birth, and only about 300,000 follicles when I reach puberty. Only 400 to 500 follicles develop and mature in each woman’s lifetime, which means that there are almost 500 menstrual cycles, but only one follicle develops and ovulates each month, and perhaps which cycle the egg meets the sperm and is fertilized to form an embryo. Other follicles that do not ovulate will atrophy on their own at some point in their development. Normally, the size of a normal mature follicle is 18 to 25 mm, and when I go through menopause, I am retired with about a thousand senile follicles left in my body that gradually wither away and die. I sometimes get sick, and if many of my small follicles never mature or never ovulate, it gradually becomes a common female condition known as ovulation disorder, and medication is needed to promote my ovulation and help my mom get pregnant. If I had an endometriosis cyst, teratoma, or inflammatory cyst, I would have had to undergo surgery. Some doctors did not take too kindly to me and were so rough on me that I was hurt. Now many knowledgeable gynecologists are calling for my protection, and I’m glad. Modern reproductive technology can make me “immortal”. If a young girl loses me to surgery or a tumor, it is no longer a myth that I can be rejuvenated and continue to ovulate and secrete hormones by consulting a specialist at the Center for Reproductive Medicine and having the cortical layer containing the small follicles cut off during surgery, prepared and cryopreserved in a liquid nitrogen tank, and then planted back into my body when I am well. Note that my age is gradually getting older after 35 years old, and aging sharply around 39 years old, you may not see it, women are still very young and beautiful on the surface of 40, but do not forget me, I am your dependent ovaries.