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Female reproductive organs, artwork. At lower centre is the vagina, which also functions as the birth canal. At centre is the uterus, within which a foetus develops during pregnancy. Between the two is the cervix, the neck of the uterus. At upper left and right are the two ovaries, from one of which an egg (ovum) is released during the monthly ovulation cycle. This egg travels down the adjacent oviduct (Fallopian tube) to the uterus, where it either embeds in the uterine wall (if fertilised) or is lost with the uterine wall (endometrium) during menstruation. (KEYSTONE/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY/SPRINGER MEDIZIN/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY)