One in two women has experienced squirting orgasms: "Not very surprising," says researcher
From a small gush to soaking the bed sheets. Female ejaculation is common, a new study concludes.
Medical student Hijab Fatima Ali wrote her student thesis on female ejaculation. The thesis has now been published as a scientific article on a topic that has received very little research.(Photo: Private)
The term squirting orgasm is actually a bit misleading.
Because it does not necessarily involve fluid squirting out.
"It can also flow more slowly, but in quite a large volume. So the sheets become wet if it happens in a bed," says Lars Walløe.
Walløe is professor emeritus at the University of Oslo's Faculty of Medicine. He remembers a time when female ejaculation was dismissed as a pornographic fantasy.
"For a long time, the medical community believed this simply did not happen. It was considered a form of wishful thinking among people who were especially interested in sexuality. But this is a real phenomenon. And it involves many women," he says.
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Study: This is common
Exactly how many women experience it is difficult to say. There is still relatively little research on the phenomenon to provide a reliable estimate.
In a study recently published by Walløe and medical student Hijab Fatima Ali, the proportion was quite high: 26 of 53 women had experienced some form of ejaculation before, during, or just after an orgasm.
The study’s conclusion is clear: Female ejaculation is common among young, sexually active women.
The women in the study were between 19 and 29 years old. They were all medical students and therefore not necessarily representative of women in general. But they came from all over Norway and from diverse backgrounds, Ali points out.
There was a time when researchers believed female ejaculation was a fantasy.(Stock photo: Nutlegal Photographer / Shutterstock / NTB)
From a small gush to soaking bed sheets
Ten of the women described the ejaculation as a visible squirt.
Others described it as an increase in fluid that left the bed wet. One woman said it was enough to make her change the sheets, while five others described a wet patch measuring five to six centimetres.
The women estimated that they ejaculated between five millilitres and one decilitre of fluid.
Most of those who experienced ejaculation had done so with a long-term partner. Half of them had also experienced it while stimulating themselves.
One thing they all had in common was that the likelihood of ejaculation increased the longer they were stimulated.
Five of the women had experienced it only once, while three said it happened every time they had an orgasm.
Ejaculation did not make the orgasm feel more intense.
"It was not described as providing any extra pleasure, but rather as a reaction or a bodily response," says Ali.
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An common experience for young women
As a newly qualified doctor in the 1970s, Walløe was a pioneer in insisting that medical students should also be taught about sexuality.
Over the years, while lecturing on the subject, he was approached by women who had experienced ejaculation and wanted to know what it was.
"The only thing I could tell them was that it's a real phenomenon, even though some people claim it does not occur," Walløe says.
Ali, meanwhile, was not surprised that nearly half of the women in her study had experienced ejaculation.
"It wasn't very surprising to me," she says. "Young women today have heard about it and know what it is. It's part of everyday conversations among women, and it's something you hear about on social media."
When Lars Walløe taught medical students about sexuality, women would come up to him after lectures to ask why the bed was wet after they had had sex. "I got the impression that this was much more common than just a few per cent," says Walløe.(Photo: Private)
Urine and fluid from specialised glands
Exactly what female ejaculation consists of has not been explored in great detail either, but a few studies provide some insight.
In a Japanese study from 2022, researchers emptied the bladders of five women and filled them with a blue liquid. All of the fluid released during subsequent sexual stimulation was blue. The bladder was the source.
Female ejaculation therefore consists partly of urine, Walløe and Ali confirm.
But some fluid also comes from the Skene’s glands, which are located on either side of the opening of the urethra.
"Studies suggest that it's generally a mixture of the two, some urine and some fluid from the glands," says Ali.
A Swedish study found that some women feel ashamed of their ejaculation because they believe they have wet themselves during intercourse. Others were more disappointed that it was not accompanied by any distinct orgasmic sensation.
A controversial topic
Nantje Fischer is an associate professor at the University of Oslo's Department of Psychology. She also heads the Norwegian Research Centre for Sexual Health (CENSE).
"Research suggests that between 10 and 50 per cent of women may experience the release of fluid from the urethra during an orgasm," she tells Science Norway.
According to Fischer, the origin of the fluid remains a matter of debate.
"One type of fluid consists of a few millilitres of thick, milky-coloured fluid and is thought to be produced by the Skene’s glands, often referred to as 'female prostate,’ which empty into the urethra. This resembles male ejaculation," she says.
The other type of fluid, often referred to as squirting, consists of a much larger volume of watery fluid that is essentially diluted urine, according to Fischer.
"This fluid most likely comes from the bladder, possibly with a small contribution from tiny glands along the urethra. Research therefore suggests that female ejaculation and squirting are two distinct phenomena with different mechanisms," she says.
Much we still don't know
"The physiology behind this has not been adequately described, which makes it difficult to study," says Ali. "The basic physiology needs to be established before further research can be done on this aspect of women’s health."
Both Walløe and Ali believe that more research is needed.
For example, does female ejaculation occur just as frequently in women over the age of 30? Does childbirth affect it? What happens during and after menopause?
Meanwhile, another medical student has just finished interviewing male medical students about their views on women who ejaculate.
"One thing is already clear: Many of them have had partners who have ejaculated," Walløe reveals.
