Sex educator resources, experts and research

Why this page starts with research

Good sex education rests on two things, lived experience and careful research. Squirter is building a series of written interviews with sex educators, sexologists and pelvic floor physiotherapists. Until those are published, this page gathers the research that every serious educator in this field draws on. Each summary names the author and year so you can find the original work, describes what was found without inventing figures, and says plainly what the study could not show.

One reminder applies to everything below. Research on squirting and female ejaculation is small. Many studies include only a few women, and some are based on one person. The findings are useful, but they describe a range of possible experiences, not a rule for every body.

Alexander Skene, 1880

The American gynecologist Alexander Skene described two small glands on either side of the lower urethra, now known as the Skene's glands or paraurethral glands. His interest was medical, mainly infections of these glands, not sexual response. His description still matters because these glands became the main candidate for the source of female ejaculate. Our page on the Skene's gland explains their anatomy in more detail.

Limits. Skene described anatomy. He did not study fluid release during arousal, so his work cannot tell us anything about squirting itself.

Ernst Graefenberg, 1950

The German gynecologist Ernst Graefenberg wrote about an erogenous zone on the front wall of the vagina, running along the urethra, which swells during arousal. He also noted that some women release fluid from the urethra at orgasm and suggested this was not urine. Decades later other authors named the zone the G-spot in his honour, although many researchers today prefer the term G-spot area, because it seems to be a region of connected tissue rather than one distinct organ.

Limits. His paper was based on clinical observation, not on measurement of the fluid. It opened the question rather than answering it.

Milan Zaviacic and the female prostate

From the 1980s into the 1990s, the Slovak pathologist Milan Zaviacic studied the Skene's glands in tissue samples. He argued that they are best understood as a female prostate, because they share tissue features with the male prostate and produce prostate specific antigen (PSA). He also suggested that the size and position of this tissue varies from woman to woman, which might help explain why experiences of female ejaculation differ so much.

Limits. His work was anatomical and microscopic. It shows what the glands can produce, not how much fluid they release in real life or how that relates to the larger volume people call squirting.

Wimpissinger and colleagues, 2007

Florian Wimpissinger and colleagues studied women who reported ejaculating during orgasm. Using ultrasound of the area and chemical tests of the fluid, they found PSA in the ejaculate, which supports the idea that the Skene's glands contribute to it. They also compared the fluid with urine and found differences between the two. Our page on female ejaculation builds on this and later work.

Limits. The study involved very few women. It shows that prostate-like fluid can be present, not that every release has the same make up.

Rubio-Casillas and Jannini, 2011

Alberto Rubio-Casillas and Emmanuele Jannini analysed a single case and proposed a clear distinction. Female ejaculation, in their view, is a small amount of thicker, whitish fluid from the glands. Squirting, or gushing, is a larger release of clear, diluted fluid from the bladder. This distinction now shapes how many researchers and educators talk about the topic, and it is the basis of our page on squirting vs female ejaculation.

Limits. One case cannot represent everyone. The authors themselves framed it as a new insight to test, not a final answer.

Zlatko Pastor, 2013

Zlatko Pastor published a systematic review in the Journal of Sexual Medicine that pulled together the earlier studies. He separated three things that are easy to confuse: female ejaculation from the glands, squirting as a larger release of bladder fluid, and coital incontinence, meaning involuntary urine leakage during sex that may point to a pelvic floor problem.

Limits. A review can only be as strong as the studies it gathers, and those studies were small and used different methods.

Salama and colleagues, 2015

Samuel Salama and colleagues asked a small group of women who reported squirting to empty their bladder, then used pelvic ultrasound before and after sexual stimulation. They saw the bladder fill again noticeably before squirting and found it empty afterwards. The fluid contained urea, creatinine and uric acid, substances typical of urine, and PSA was found in most samples. This is the main reason we say squirting fluid comes mostly from the bladder, as explained on is squirting pee and what is squirt made of.

Limits. The group was small and the setting was a clinic, not a relaxed bedroom. It also cannot explain why the bladder fills so quickly in that moment.

Pastor and Chmel, 2018

In a narrative review, Zlatko Pastor and Roman Chmel set out how to tell apart the different fluids a woman may release during sex: vaginal lubrication, female ejaculate, squirting fluid and urine from incontinence. They concluded that squirting and female ejaculation are different phenomena that can occur together, and that larger, better designed studies are still needed.

Limits. As a review, it summarises existing evidence rather than adding new measurements.

Where the studies agree and where they do not

Read together, these works point in a fairly consistent direction. The Skene's glands are real and can produce a small amount of PSA-rich fluid. The larger release people call squirting appears to come mainly from the bladder, often carrying some of that glandular fluid with it. Both are different from accidental urine leakage, which is a health matter of its own.

What remains open is just as important. Researchers do not yet know why some women squirt and others never do, how much anatomy, arousal and relaxation each contribute, or why the bladder fills so quickly before a release. Nobody has followed large, diverse groups of women over time. Until that happens, any claim that a single technique works for everyone goes beyond the evidence. Educators who are honest about this uncertainty help people relax, and relaxation is one of the few things almost every account of squirting mentions.

How we use research

Our editorial policy sets the rules, and they are simple. We cite only real, published work by author and year. We describe findings in plain words and never invent numbers. We say when a study is small, when results conflict and when a question is still open. When new research appears, we update the relevant pages. Research informs our guides, but we never present it as medical advice for your body. For pain, bleeding or leaking outside sex, see a gynecologist, urologist or pelvic floor physiotherapist.

Educators who want to contribute

We would like to publish written interviews with people who work in this field every day. If you are a sex educator, a sexologist, a sex therapist or a pelvic floor physiotherapist and you are willing to answer questions about squirting, female ejaculation, communication or pelvic health, please email [email protected]. Tell us briefly about your work and the topics you know best. Interviews are done in writing, you approve the final text before it goes live, and you choose how you want to be named and which links to your own work we include.