Your First Period (Menarche)

Menarche

Your first period is called “menarche“. It is just a fancy word derived from early Greek meaning “month beginning”. In many cultures and religions, this is considered the time a female transitions from being a girl into a woman. It marks the transition from infertile to fertile. It is however also important to note that it does not mean the girl becomes an adult. 10, 12, 14 and 16-year-olds are still not adults

How does it happen?

A lot of things must happen, line up and be just right for you to experience your first period. Your body will try for months, even when you are not aware of it. It will try to secrete the hormones and chemicals needed to trigger the development of your uterus lining, and then the changes in the lining needed to shed it, and then finally shedding it.  It will send signals to your ovaries to start eggs ripening, but those eggs will never reach maturity and be released.

That is until one day when everything just magically lines up, you feel a strange pain in your belly, you are moody and irritated, and you see blood in your panties when you take them off. Ater this it may take months for your body to line up all the processes again to make you menstruate again. And even with all this, you will very likely not ovulate regularly. That will take a few more years to happen.

When?

The age at which you experience your first period is determined by biology, genetics, nutrition and environmental factors. Things like race, ethnicity, family relationships, and geographic region play a significant role in the average age of menarche.

Your body will not start until it is ready. Thanks to improved health, nutrition, hormones, and chemicals in water and materials that come into contact with our food, the age of menarche are creeping downwards.

When will my periods start, and can I make it come sooner?

Many young girls want to know if their vaginal discharge means they will start soon, or if they can make their first periods come soon. This is often because their friends are already menstruating and they feel left out. The answer is that your first period starts when conditions are just right. Vaginal discharge, breast buds, and pubic hair mean it is close. But it cannot be predicted when it will finally start. The same with making your first period come sooner. Your first period is the result of a whole lot of things happening in the correct sequence. You cannot speed that up. It involves your brain, your uterus, your ovaries, your hormones and chemical signals in your body. It just takes time. It has also been shown that women that starts menarche later, are slightly healthier than women that start earlier. So be patient, relax, get on with your life and enjoy your childhood while you can.