Female Sexual Response & Hormone Control The female sexual
response includes arousal and orgasm, but there is no
ejaculation. A woman may become pregnant without having an
orgasm. Follicle-stimulating hormone, luteinizing hormone,
estrogen, and progesterone have major roles in regulating the
functions of the female reproductive system. At puberty, when
the ovaries and uterus are mature enough to respond to hormonal
stimulation, certain stimuli cause the hypothalamus to start
secreting gonadotropin-releasing hormone. This hormone enters
the blood and goes to the anterior pituitary gland where it
stimulates the secretion of follicle-stimulating hormone and
luteinizing hormone. These hormones, in turn, affect the ovaries
and uterus and the monthly cycles begin. A woman's reproductive
cycles last from menarche to menopause. The monthly ovarian
cycle begins with the follicle development during the follicular
phase, continues with ovulation during the ovulatory phase, and
concludes with the development and regressi