- Fallopian tube
Either of a pair of tubes that pick up the egg from the ovary and conducts it to the uterus. Fertilization normally occurs within this structure. Blocked or scarred fallopian tubes are a leading source of infertility in women.
- Fecundability
the ability to become pregnant
- Fertility drugs
Compounds used to treat ovulatory dysfunction. These include clomiphene citrate, human gonadotropins, bromocriptine, glucocorticoids, and progesterone.
- Fertilization
The penetration of an oocyte by a sperm and subsequent combining (fusion) of maternal and paternal DNA.
- Fetus
The embryo becomes a fetus after approximately 9 weeks in the uterus. This stage of development lasts from 9 weeks until birth and is marked by the growth and specialization of organ function.
- Fibroid
- A benign tumor of the uterine muscle and connective tissue.
- Fimbria
The finger-like projections at the end of the fallopian tube nearest the ovary that capture the egg and deliver it into the tube
- Fimbrioplasty
A surgical procedure to correct a damaged or blocked fallopian tube.
- Foetal reduction
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A medical procedure to decrease the number of foetuses in a multiple gestation.
- Foetus
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The developing human organism after the embryo stage, from the ninth week of pregnancy to the moment of birth.
- Follicle
The structure on the ovary surface that nurtures a ripening oocyte. At ovulation the follicle ruptures and the oocyte is released. The follicle produces estrogen until the oocyte is released, after which it becomes a yellowish protrusion on the ovary called the corpus luteum.
- Follicle stimulating hormone
The pituitary hormone that stimulates follicle growth in women and sperm formation in men
- Follicular phase
the pre-ovulatory phase of a woman's cycle during which the follicle grows and high estrogen levels cause the uterine lining to proliferate
- Fructose
Produced by the seminal vesicles, the sugar that sperm use for energy
- FSH
The pituitary hormone that stimulates follicle growth in women and sperm formation in men
