When a woman orgasms, the fluid that comes out can be one of several things, and often it’s a combination. Most commonly, it’s a mix of vaginal lubrication that built up during arousal, a small amount of milky white fluid from glands near the urethra, or in some cases, a larger gush of clear liquid. What you see depends on the person, the type of stimulation, and normal biological variation.
The Three Types of Fluid
There are three distinct fluids that can be present during and after orgasm, and they come from different places.
The first is vaginal lubrication, the wetness that builds throughout arousal. This comes from the Bartholin’s glands near the vaginal opening. It’s typically clear or slightly slippery and starts well before orgasm. Most of it is already present by the time climax happens, but muscle contractions during orgasm can push more of it out.
The second is female ejaculate in the technical sense. This is a small amount of milky white fluid with a mucus-like consistency. It comes from the Skene’s glands, two tiny glands located on either side of the urethral opening. These glands swell with blood flow during arousal and can release this fluid during or just before orgasm. The fluid contains proteins similar to those found in male semen, including prostate-specific antigen (PSA), because the Skene’s glands are considered the equivalent of the male prostate.
The third is squirting fluid, a larger volume of clear liquid that comes out of the urethra. This is the one that gets the most attention and causes the most confusion. It’s mostly diluted fluid from the bladder, often mixed with secretions from the Skene’s glands. In a 2015 study led by gynecologist Samuel Salama, some women produced volumes comparable to a glass of water during orgasm, while the true ejaculate (the milky white type) is much smaller in quantity.
Squirting and Ejaculation Are Not the Same Thing
One of the biggest misconceptions is that squirting and female ejaculation are interchangeable terms. Researchers treat them as two separate phenomena. Neurophysiologist Beverly Whipple of Rutgers University has argued that “female ejaculation” should only refer to the small amount of milky white fluid produced at orgasm, not the larger gush of clear liquid that people typically call squirting.
The milky ejaculate comes from the Skene’s glands and exits through or near the urethra. Squirting fluid also exits through the urethra but originates primarily from the bladder. Four out of five women in Salama’s study had PSA (a Skene’s gland marker) in their squirting fluid, confirming it’s not purely urine. But it’s not purely glandular secretion either. It sits somewhere in between.
This is why squirting fluid doesn’t typically look, smell, or feel like urine, even though it passes through the same exit. It’s more diluted and often has a different chemical profile, though the exact composition varies from person to person.
Where the Fluid Comes From
The Skene’s glands sit within the tissue surrounding the urethra, close to what’s commonly called the G-spot. This area is thought to be the vaginal surface that lies directly over the Skene’s glands (sometimes called the “female prostate”). Stimulating this area is closely linked to the release of fluid during orgasm, which is why internal, front-wall stimulation is more commonly associated with ejaculation and squirting than clitoral stimulation alone.
The size of the Skene’s glands varies significantly between individuals. Some women have larger, more developed glands that produce noticeable fluid. Others have smaller glands that produce very little. This natural variation explains why some women ejaculate regularly, others rarely, and many never do at all.
How Common It Is
Squirting or ejaculating is far less common than popular culture suggests. The estimated prevalence is about 5% of women, according to the International Society for Sexual Medicine. That figure reflects women who experience it regularly or noticeably. Many more women produce small amounts of Skene’s gland fluid during orgasm without ever being aware of it, because the volume is too small to see.
Whether or not you experience any visible fluid during orgasm is completely normal either way. It’s not an indicator of arousal level, orgasm intensity, or sexual health. The Skene’s glands simply vary in size and activity from person to person, the same way other glands in the body do.
What It Looks and Feels Like
Vaginal lubrication is clear and slippery, similar to the consistency of egg whites. Female ejaculate (the Skene’s gland fluid) is milky white and thicker, closer to a mucus consistency. Squirting fluid is thin, clear, and watery, and comes in a noticeably larger volume. Some women experience only one of these at a time. Others produce a combination, which is why the fluid during orgasm can look different on different occasions.
The volume ranges widely. Lubrication and true ejaculate together might amount to less than a teaspoon. Squirting, when it happens, can produce enough liquid to visibly wet sheets or clothing. There’s no “normal” amount. The presence or absence of fluid, and how much of it there is, varies between people and even between individual sexual experiences for the same person.