Squirting vs Female Ejaculation: Is It Pee?What Studies Found

Some women release fluid during sex or orgasm, and many wonder whether it’s urine, whether it’s normal, and whether it means something is wrong. Researchers now describe two different releases, plus a third thing that’s easy to confuse with them.

Squirting: mostly from the bladder

A French study followed seven women who regularly released a large amount of fluid during sex.¹ Each emptied her bladder first, and ultrasound confirmed it was empty.¹ Then, during arousal:

• Just before squirting, the bladder had noticeably refilled.¹
• Just after, it was empty again.¹
• The fluid’s urea, creatinine and uric acid were similar to urine.¹

In five of the seven, the fluid also contained a small amount of PSA, a protein made by glands near the urethra.¹ The authors concluded squirting is essentially an involuntary release of urine during sex, often with a small amount of gland fluid mixed in.¹

It was a tiny study of women who volunteered for it, so it can’t describe everyone. But reviews from Czech gynecologists reach the same picture: squirting is about 10 milliliters or more of clear fluid released from the bladder.²

Female ejaculation: a few drops from glands

Female ejaculation is different. It’s a few milliliters of thick, milky fluid from the Skene’s glands, beside the urethra, released at orgasm.³ It contains PSA.² Squirting and ejaculation can happen at the same time.²

	Squirting	Female ejaculation
Amount	About 10 mL or more2	A few mL2
Look	Clear2	Thick, milky3
Source	Bladder2	Skene’s glands3

How common?

Surveys put female ejaculation at 10% to 54% of women.⁴ That wide range comes mostly from questionnaires; it has been measured directly in only a few dozen cases.⁴ Fluid release is not a typical part of orgasm, so not having it isn’t a sign of anything missing.⁴

Not the same as leaking during sex

Coital incontinence is leaking urine during sex that’s linked to a bladder problem.⁴ Leaking during penetration is the more common form and is usually caused by stress incontinence, the kind that also leaks with coughs and sneezes.⁴ Reviewers class it as a medical problem that deserves treatment.⁴ Source, amount, timing and how it feels can help tell these apart.³

See leaking urine during sex and vaginal wind during sex.

Practical points

• Squirting at orgasm, with no leaks at other times, fits the pattern described in the studies.
• Peeing before sex won’t necessarily stop it, since the bladder refilled during arousal in the French study.¹ A towel underneath is simpler.
• Leaks with coughing, sneezing, exercise or penetration are worth mentioning to a clinician.
• A partner’s reaction matters more to comfort than the fluid does. A short line helps: “Sometimes I release fluid when I come. It’s a known thing, and a towel sorts it.”

Try: “I sometimes release fluid during sex, and I also leak a little when I sneeze. Could the two be connected, and is it worth checking my pelvic floor?”

Down There, Decoded covers orgasm in Chapter 9, “Where Did My Desire Go?,” in a section called “Who Gets There,” which looks at how orgasm happens and whether the way it happens for you counts. Its Down-There Log keeps a note of what shows up during or after sex, so a pattern is easy to show a clinician. See the book.