Female Ejaculation: What It Is, and How It Differs From Squirting

"Female ejaculation" and "squirting" are two words most people use for the same thing. You will see them swapped in conversation, in forums and in plenty of older articles. Science now says they describe two different releases, from two different places in her body, working in two different ways.

That might sound like a technical detail. It isn't. When you know what each one is, you stop wondering whether something went wrong, you stop treating either one as a target, and you become a calmer lover. And a calm, unhurried man is exactly what a woman needs before she can relax and let go.

Here is the plain-language version: what female ejaculation is, whether it is real, what the fluid is made of, how it differs from squirting, and what all of it means for the two of you.

01What is female ejaculation?

Female ejaculation is the release, at orgasm, of a few millilitres of thick, milky fluid from the Skene's glands, a fluid that contains PSA.

Researchers who study it define it narrowly. Strictly speaking, female ejaculation is:

• Small. A few millilitres.
• Thick and milky. Whitish rather than clear.
• From the Skene's glands. Also called the paraurethral glands, or the "female prostate".
• Rich in PSA. A protein that is also found in the fluid of the male prostate.
• Released at orgasm.

The Skene's glands sit along the urethra, the short tube urine leaves through. On ultrasound, this gland tissue has been seen surrounding the entire length of the female urethra.

Until 2011, every release of fluid at orgasm was simply called female ejaculation. That is a big part of why the words are still so mixed up. Squirting, the larger and clear gush most people picture when they hear the term, is something else, and we compare the two below. If you want the basics on that first, here is what squirting is.

02Is female ejaculation real?

Yes: it has been measured in lab studies, and it has been described in historical records for more than 2,000 years.

In 2007, Wimpissinger and colleagues examined two women with ultrasound and lab tests. The fluid they released at orgasm had the parameters of prostate fluid, unlike their urine. In 2011, Rubio-Casillas and Jannini described one woman in detail: her "real" ejaculate was a very scanty, thick, whitish fluid, biochemically comparable to some components of male semen. The same researchers point to historical records of it going back more than 2,000 years. Our own course guide notes that it has been written about since at least the 17th century, and that modern research began in the early 1980s.

An honest note: the lab evidence comes from a small number of women. A 2013 review by Pastor found that female ejaculation had been shown objectively in only tens of cases. The higher numbers you may read come from questionnaires, where women describe what they experience in their own words, and where the two kinds of release are easily mixed. So: real, yes, and probably less common than the surveys suggest.

03What is the fluid made of?

The small, milky ejaculate carries PSA and other markers of prostate fluid, while the larger squirt is close to very diluted urine, often with a little PSA.

These are two different fluids, and that difference is the heart of this article.

• Female ejaculate. Contains PSA and other markers of prostate fluid. In the lab, it does not resemble urine.
• Squirt. In a 2015 study by Salama and colleagues, the squirting fluid had urea, creatinine and uric acid at levels comparable to urine. PSA was also present in it in 5 of the 7 women.

So what does female ejaculation look like? In plain words:

• Female ejaculate: a few millilitres of whitish, milky, somewhat thick fluid.
• Squirt: a larger release, about 10 millilitres or more, and clear. In an online survey of 320 women who report ejaculating (most of them describing the squirting kind of release), 83.1% said the fluid was usually "clear as water", and the most common amount they described was about 2 ounces.

This is also what people are asking when they search "squirt vs cream". In that question, the "cream" usually means a thicker, whitish fluid like the milky ejaculate from the Skene's glands; the "squirt" is the clear, larger release that comes mostly from the bladder.

04Female ejaculation vs squirting: the difference

They come from different sources, in different amounts, look different and work by entirely different mechanisms, yet they can happen at the same time.

Side by side:

• Source. Female ejaculation comes from the Skene's glands. Squirting comes from the bladder and leaves through the urethra.
• Amount. Female ejaculation: a few millilitres. Squirting: about 10 millilitres or more.
• Look. Female ejaculation: thick and milky. Squirting: clear and watery.
• Mechanism. Female ejaculation is a gland secreting its fluid at orgasm. With squirting, the bladder fills during arousal and empties when she squirts. Researchers describe the two mechanisms as entirely different.

They are not either/or. Both can happen together, which is why a woman may have one, both or neither.

There is also a third thing that is neither of them: coital incontinence. That is an accidental leak of urine during penetration or at orgasm, linked to stress urinary incontinence or an overactive bladder. It is not a sexual response; it is a medical matter, and a doctor can help with it.

And one fluid that is not ejaculation at all: the everyday wetness of arousal. Vaginal lubrication is a different fluid, which researchers describe as passing through the vaginal wall. It is a normal part of arousal, not a release at orgasm. For each of these in more detail, see our guide to the three kinds of fluid.

05Where does female ejaculation come from?

It comes from the Skene's glands, often called the "female prostate", which surround the urethra just under the front wall of the vagina.

In the class, Abigail describes the Skene's glands as draining into the urethra and says they are more and more often called the female prostate, because their fluid has properties like those of the male prostate's fluid.

The name "female prostate" is not just a figure of speech. Gland tissue has been seen on ultrasound surrounding the whole length of the female urethra, and the fluid emitted at orgasm had the parameters of prostate fluid.

This is also why G-spot play and female ejaculation are so often mentioned together. The G-spot is felt on the front wall of the vagina, toward her belly, and many women feel a spongy area there that swells with arousal. Pressure on that area also presses on the urethra and on the gland tissue around it.

06Do all women ejaculate?

No, and the numbers vary widely from study to study.

Questionnaire studies put female ejaculation anywhere between 10% and 54% of women, and a 2024 study of U.S. women found that about 40% had ever squirted. The figures depend on what each study asked and how it defined the release. For the full answer, including what makes it more or less likely, read about whether every woman can squirt.

07Is female ejaculation pee?

No: the small, milky ejaculate is not urine.

The larger squirt is a different story. It comes mostly from the bladder and is chemically close to very diluted urine, yet it is not the same as urinating: the bladder fills during arousal and empties with squirting, and the fluid often carries a little PSA from the Skene's glands. We go through that research step by step in whether squirting is pee.

08Why does it happen, and does it mean she enjoyed it?

Nobody fully knows why women ejaculate, and the release is neither proof of orgasm nor something she needs.

Researchers have described what happens far better than why it happens. What is clear is that fluid release is not typically part of a woman's orgasm: most orgasms, for most women, come without it. Even among U.S. women who squirt, only about 20% always have squirting and orgasm together.

So it is not a scorecard. Its presence does not prove she climaxed, and its absence does not mean anything is wrong with her, or with you.

In the class, Abigail adds that some women release fluid several times during G-spot stimulation, and not every one of those times comes with an orgasm.

When it does happen, it tends to be welcome. In the online survey of women who report ejaculating, 78.8% of the women and 90.0% of their partners said it enriched their sex lives.

09What this means for you

Treat it with curiosity, never as a goal, and make her comfort the only thing that matters.

Knowing the difference takes the guesswork out of it. A small, milky release is female ejaculation; a larger, clear gush is squirting; one, both or neither is normal. If either happens, a couple of towels under her and a calm, warm reaction from you say more than any words. If neither happens, nothing is missing. It usually can't happen on command, and what matters most is that she feels relaxed, with no pressure and nothing to prove.

Here at Gabrielle Moore®, we see it this way: whatever the fluid, it is one way her body may answer pleasure, not a test for either of you. When you are both curious to explore, our guide on how to help her, step by step walks you through it, one stage at a time.

If you'd like to learn it from women who teach it from their own experience, the class below goes further.

Hot kisses,Gabrielle MooreThe voice of Naked U · Who we are