The fluid released during squirting is mostly urine, but it’s not purely urine. Ultrasound and biochemical studies consistently show that the bladder fills rapidly during sexual arousal and empties at the moment of squirting, confirming the bladder as the primary source. However, the fluid also contains small amounts of prostatic secretions that are chemically distinct from urine, making squirting a unique mix rather than simple urinary leakage.
This question comes up constantly because the answer wasn’t clear for a long time, and even now, it’s more nuanced than a simple yes or no. Understanding what’s actually happening requires separating two related but distinct events that often get lumped together.
Squirting and Female Ejaculation Are Different Things
Researchers now distinguish between two types of fluid release during sexual activity. Female ejaculation is a small amount of thick, milky white fluid produced by the Skene’s glands, which sit along the front wall of the vagina near the urethral opening. Squirting is a larger, more forceful gush of dilute fluid that comes from the bladder. The two can happen at the same time, and they often do, which is why the terms get used interchangeably even though they describe different processes.
The Skene’s glands are sometimes called the female prostate because they share striking similarities with the male prostate. They produce the same marker protein (PSA) found in male prostatic fluid, and their tissue structure closely mirrors prostate tissue. The fluid they release is biochemically similar to components of male seminal fluid, minus the sperm. It contains elevated levels of PSA, prostatic acid phosphatase, glucose, and fructose, none of which appear in normal urine at those concentrations.
What Ultrasound Studies Revealed
The most direct evidence comes from a study that used ultrasound imaging at three points: before arousal, just before squirting, and immediately after. At baseline, each participant’s bladder was confirmed completely empty. During sexual stimulation, the bladder filled noticeably, sometimes in a surprisingly short window. After squirting, the bladder was empty again. This cycle of rapid filling and emptying confirmed the bladder as the source of the high-volume fluid.
Biochemical analysis of the squirted fluid told the rest of the story. It contained urea and creatinine (hallmarks of urine) but at lower concentrations than in the participants’ baseline urine samples. In five out of seven women, the fluid also contained PSA, the prostatic marker that had not been present in their pre-arousal urine. The researchers concluded that squirting is essentially an involuntary release of urine during sexual activity, with a marginal but real contribution of prostatic secretions mixed in.
Why the Fluid Isn’t Identical to Urine
Calling squirting “just peeing” misses an important detail. When researchers compared female ejaculate side by side with each participant’s own urine, the chemical profiles were clearly different. The ejaculate had lower creatinine levels and contained prostatic markers at concentrations that don’t show up in normal urine. One study found that the fluid “showed all the parameters found in prostate plasma in contrast to the values measured in voided urine.” So while the bulk of the volume originates in the bladder, the fluid passes through or mixes with prostatic secretions from the Skene’s glands on its way out through the urethra.
The rapid bladder filling itself is also unusual. The kidneys can’t produce that much urine in the few minutes of arousal that sometimes precede squirting. This suggests the bladder may be filling through a different mechanism during intense sexual stimulation, though the specifics of that process aren’t fully mapped out.
How Common Squirting Is
Squirting is far more common than most people assume. A Swedish cross-sectional study found that 58% of women surveyed had experienced ejaculation or squirting at least once, while a U.S.-based study put the figure at 41%. In the Swedish study, the experience was reported more frequently among non-heterosexual women. About 6% of respondents were unsure whether they had experienced it, which tracks with how easily it can go unnoticed during sex, especially in smaller volumes.
Squirting vs. Urinary Incontinence During Sex
Coital urinary incontinence, or leaking urine involuntarily during sex, is a separate condition that can look similar from the outside. The key differences are in the cause and the context. Coital incontinence typically stems from pelvic floor dysfunction or an overactive bladder, and it can happen during penetration, not just at orgasm. It’s considered a medical issue that benefits from treatment.
Squirting and female ejaculation, by contrast, are classified as normal physiological responses. A systematic review emphasized that distinguishing between these phenomena matters: one is a sign of a treatable condition, the other is a variation of healthy sexual function. If fluid release during sex is accompanied by other urinary symptoms like urgency, frequency, or leaking at non-sexual times, that points toward incontinence rather than squirting.
What’s Happening in the Body
During orgasm, the pelvic floor muscles contract in a synchronized, rhythmic pattern. Studies measuring pressure in both the vaginal and anal canals simultaneously found that contractions start near the onset of orgasm, build in force through the first half of the series, then gradually taper off. These contractions generate significant pressure in the pelvic region and can contribute to the expulsion of fluid from both the bladder and the Skene’s glands.
Stimulation of the anterior vaginal wall, the area where the Skene’s glands and surrounding erectile tissue are located, appears to be the most common trigger. This is the same region often referred to as the G-spot, and its proximity to both the urethra and the bladder helps explain why stimulation there can produce the bladder-filling response seen on ultrasound. The pelvic contractions at orgasm then create the pressure needed to expel the fluid.
So the straightforward answer: squirting fluid is primarily dilute urine from the bladder, mixed with small amounts of prostatic secretions from the Skene’s glands. It’s chemically distinct from regular urine, it’s a normal part of sexual response for many women, and it’s not a sign of anything going wrong.