Female ejaculation and squirting

Two different phenomena

Research distinguishes between two things frequently conflated in popular discussion.

Female ejaculation — a small volume, typically under 1 mL, of thick, whitish fluid released at orgasm. Biochemical analysis consistently finds prostate-specific antigen (PSA) and prostatic acid phosphatase, matching secretions of the Skene's glands (paraurethral glands), which are homologous to the prostate. This is well documented and not controversial.

Squirting — a substantially larger volume, sometimes 100 mL or more, of clear, watery fluid expelled from the urethra around orgasm.

What the fluid studies found

Salama et al. (2015, Journal of Sexual Medicine) studied seven women who reported squirting. Participants provided a urine sample and then underwent ultrasound before arousal, during arousal before squirting, and immediately after. The findings:

• The bladder was empty at baseline.
• The bladder filled substantially during arousal.
• The bladder was empty again immediately after squirting.
• Biochemical analysis found the squirted fluid was chemically comparable to urine — urea, creatinine and uric acid at urine-like concentrations — though in five of seven participants it also contained PSA, which the initial urine sample did not.

The reasonable conclusion, and the one most researchers now hold: squirt fluid originates substantially in the bladder, is dilute and chemically urine-like, and typically also contains Skene's gland secretion. Whether it is "urine" depends on definitions that do not carry much practical weight. It is not the same as ordinary voiding, it is involuntary, and it is a documented physiological event.

Wimpissinger et al. (2007, 2013) and Rubio-Casillas and Jannini (2011) reached broadly compatible conclusions, with the latter proposing the two-phenomena model above.

What is not established

• How common it is. Self-report surveys give figures ranging from about 10 to 54 percent, depending on definition and question wording. There is no reliable prevalence estimate.
• Whether it can be learned. Some people report developing it with particular stimulation, particularly of the anterior vaginal wall. There is no controlled evidence, and the widely marketed technique instruction is not evidence-based.
• Whether it correlates with orgasm intensity or quality. Reports vary and no consistent finding exists.

Practical points

• It is not a marker of a better orgasm, a better partner, or a more responsive body. Most people do not experience it, and that is unremarkable.
• Pressure to produce it is a real and reported source of sexual anxiety. Treating it as an achievement to be extracted from a partner is the main way it causes harm.
• It is harmless. A towel or a waterproof mattress protector is the practical response.
• Involuntary urination during sex is a different thing — coital incontinence, affecting an estimated 10–30 percent of women with urinary incontinence — and is treatable with pelvic floor physiotherapy. Distinguishing them clinically matters, because one needs a towel and the other needs a referral.
• Emptying the bladder before sex reduces volume and reduces anxiety about it for some people.

Why the research is thin

This is a small field with small sample sizes — the key study had seven participants. Funding for research into female sexual pleasure has historically been minimal relative to research into male sexual dysfunction, and this is one of several areas where the honest answer is that the physiology is partly characterised and the epidemiology is not. Confident claims in either direction, including "it's just urine" and "it's definitely not urine", outrun the evidence.

Sources

• Salama S et al. "Nature and origin of 'squirting' in female sexuality." Journal of Sexual Medicine, 2015.
• Rubio-Casillas A, Jannini EA. "New insights from one case of female ejaculation." Journal of Sexual Medicine, 2011.
• Wimpissinger F et al. "The female prostate revisited: perineal ultrasound and biochemical studies of female ejaculate." Journal of Sexual Medicine, 2007.
• Pastor Z, Chmel R. "Differential diagnostics of female 'sexual' fluids: a narrative review." International Urogynecology Journal, 2018.
• Zaviacic M. The Human Female Prostate, 1999.

Last reviewed: August 2026.