How Are Estrogen & Progesterone Produced?

Estrogen and progesterone are the primary female hormones that keep a woman healthy, well-balanced and capable of reproduction. As a woman ages, these hormones decline and are no longer produced in sufficient amounts, which can result in various physical and emotional symptoms.

Estrogen Production

• Estrogen is produced by your ovaries. As you near menopause your estrogen production declines drastically but not completely as your ovaries stop working. At that point, your body tries to find other ways to produce estrogen.

Secondary Sources

• Although estrogen is produced mainly by the developing follicles in the ovaries, the corpus luteum and the placenta, it is also produced in lesser amounts by the breasts, liver, fat cells and adrenal glands.

Secondary Estrogen

• These secondary estrogens are important to post-menopausal women who are no longer menstruating and whose ovaries have shut down, according to Project-aware.org.

Progesterone Production

• Progesterone is also produced by the ovaries as well as in the adrenal glands and the placenta when a woman is pregnant.

Corpus Luteum

• Progesterone is produced in the corpus luteum of the ovaries of a woman who is menstruating. The corpus luteum is what remains of the egg follicle after a woman ovulates. Progesterone is stored in fat tissues and it travels from its site of origin to tissue in your body where there are progesterone receptors.