Squirting is the release of fluid from the urethra during sexual arousal or orgasm. The volume can range from a small amount to several hundred milliliters, and the fluid is typically clear and watery. It’s a real physiological event, though scientists are still refining their understanding of exactly what the fluid contains and where it comes from.
What makes this topic confusing is that “squirting” and “female ejaculation” are often used interchangeably, but researchers now treat them as two distinct things happening from different sources.
Squirting and Ejaculation Are Two Different Things
The distinction matters because the fluids come from different places and look nothing alike. Female ejaculation is a small release, roughly 1 milliliter, of thick, milky-white fluid produced by the Skene’s glands (sometimes called the female prostate). These are two tiny glands, each about the size of a small blueberry, sitting on either side of the urethral opening. They develop from the same embryonic tissue as the male prostate, and the fluid they produce contains proteins biochemically similar to components of male semen.
Squirting, by contrast, involves a much larger volume of clear, watery fluid, anywhere from tens to hundreds of milliliters, also released through the urethra. This fluid originates primarily from the bladder. A 2014 ultrasound study on women who could squirt showed their bladders were full just before the event and empty directly afterward, confirming the bladder as the source. The fluid contains urea and creatinine (the same markers found in urine), but at diluted concentrations, so it’s not identical to regular urine. Some researchers describe it as heavily diluted bladder fluid.
Both can happen at the same time. A woman may release both the small, milky ejaculate from the Skene’s glands and the larger, clear squirting fluid from the bladder during the same sexual experience.
What Triggers It
The tissues surrounding the Skene’s glands swell during sexual arousal, which is part of what drives fluid production. Squirting is most commonly associated with stimulation of the front vaginal wall, the area sometimes referred to as the G-spot. Pressure on this area can produce intense orgasms in some women, and the proximity to both the Skene’s glands and the bladder likely explains why stimulation there is the most commonly reported trigger.
That said, not all squirting requires direct vaginal stimulation. Some women experience it through clitoral stimulation alone, or through a combination of arousal pathways. The mechanism isn’t fully mapped out, but the consistent finding is that high arousal and orgasm are the key factors, with the specific type of touch varying from person to person.
How Common It Is
Estimates vary widely depending on how the question is asked. In one population-based survey, 54% of 233 women reported a spurt of fluid at orgasm. A larger mail survey of 1,172 women found that about 40% identified as having experienced ejaculation. On the other end, a study by Masters and colleagues found only 4.7% of 300 women ejaculated during observation. The spread in these numbers likely reflects differences in definitions, self-reporting accuracy, and whether women recognized what was happening. Some researchers have noted that vaginal lubrication or stress urinary incontinence can be mistaken for ejaculation, and vice versa.
The wide range also suggests that many women may experience some version of this but not recognize it, particularly if the volume is small. The dramatic, high-volume squirting commonly depicted in pornography represents one end of the spectrum. For context, female ejaculation appears in only about 5% of pornographic scenes, and those portrayals tend to exaggerate both the volume and the frequency.
What the Fluid Actually Contains
The milky ejaculate from the Skene’s glands contains prostate-specific antigen (PSA), the same protein produced by the male prostate. This is one of the strongest pieces of evidence that these glands function as a true female prostate. The concentration of PSA in this fluid is biochemically comparable to what’s found in male seminal fluid.
The squirting fluid, coming from the bladder, has a different profile. Chemical analysis shows it contains urea, creatinine, and uric acid at concentrations consistent with very dilute urine. It does not smell, look, or behave like typical urine collected during a bathroom visit, which is part of why the “is it urine?” question keeps circulating. The honest answer is that it originates from the bladder and shares some chemical markers with urine, but it’s significantly more diluted and is produced under completely different physiological circumstances.
Why There’s Still Stigma
The confusion between squirting and urination has created unnecessary shame for many women. In 2014, Britain went so far as to ban pornographic depictions of female ejaculation, classifying the fluid as urine. This kind of regulatory response reflects a broader cultural discomfort with female sexual response that doesn’t have a tidy parallel in male sexuality.
Research from large surveys consistently shows that women who experience ejaculation report positive effects on their sexual lives and their partners’ experiences. The phenomenon is physiologically normal, not a sign of a medical problem, and not something that needs to be “fixed.” The variation in whether someone squirts, how much fluid is involved, and what triggers it is simply part of the normal range of human sexual response.