Ovum
Tim Taylor is a senior writer at Innerbody Research focusing on human anatomy and physiology. Tim earned both his Bachelor of Science degree in Biology and his Master's degree in Teaching from the University of Pittsburgh.
An ovum (plural: 'ova'), also called an egg, is a female sex cell; these are located in the ovaries. The female, unlike the male, does not manufacture the sex cells throughout her life. A girl baby is born with about 60,000 of these cells, which are contained in sac-like depressions in the ovaries. Each of these cells may have the potential to mature for fertilization, but in actuality only about 400 ripen during the woman's lifetime.
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