For a species to survive, some of its members must reproduce. This means that every animal has body parts that help it with this process. In humans, we have some reproductive body parts that you can see, and others on the insides of our bodies that you can't see. Humans usually reproduce by having sex, to join female and male sex cells (eggs and sperm). Because some people need to reproduce for our species to survive, the reproductive system is a very important body system.
This game will help you learn some basics about what female and male reproductive systems look like and how they work. You can visit the anatomy section to learn about specific body parts, or go to the pregnancy pathways section to learn more about how pregnancy happens and how it can be prevented. There are also links in the menu to learn more about cell division, fertilization, and the menstrual cycle. But let's cover some of the first basics here, to start.
We are all born with reproductive body parts, but they aren't something that we usually talk about. Your reproductive body parts probably look different from those of other people, and they will change over time. Because we don't usually talk about them, some people can worry about their parts and whether they are healthy or "normal" or not.
Vulvas and penises can be different shapes, colors, and sizes, just like your eyes, lips, and noses. There is no "normal". Your sex parts also don't have to determine your gender.
It is important to get to know your sex body parts so that you can tell when something changes or isn't working the way it usually does. This is a good start to making sure your reproductive system stays healthy.
Before the human body is ready to reproduce, it must grow and go through puberty. During puberty, people may notice hair growing in places it didn't grow before, such as on their faces, armpits, and pubic regions. Girls may start making more female sex hormones and start having a menstrual cycle, and their hips often grow wider. Boys may start making more male sex hormones and their testes often lower a bit, which lets them make healthy sperm. After puberty, sex between a male and a female can result in a pregnancy.
Both male and female reproductive systems rely on hormones to work properly. Hormones control many things, including when eggs are released from an ovary and when a period starts. Hormones also help make healthy sperm in males. Because of the role hormones play in the menstrual cycle, they are often used in birth control.
Sex cells – eggs and sperm – are made through meiosis. These cells have half the DNA that most other cells in the body have. Males can make an unlimited number of sperm cells throughout their lives. But females are born with a specific number of eggs. At around age 50, women run out of those eggs, which is called menopause. At that time, they stop having a menstrual cycle and usually can no longer reproduce. A woman's "reproductive years" are from puberty to menopause, when she has regular periods. The only visible sign of a menstrual cycle is menstrual bleeding. Having a regular period is a sign of fertility and overall health. Each cycle, an ovary releases one egg, which only lives for up to a day. If that egg is found by live sperm, the egg can be fertilized and begin to develop through mitosis. While getting pregnant may seem easy, many people struggle to get pregnant because many things can go wrong.
These are just a few basics to get you thinking about the reproductive system, and the body parts that are a part of it. As you explore the different parts of the reproductive game, there are a few good questions to ask yourself: