There's a lot of fascination and mystery around the concept of squirting.

Squirting is a colloquial term for a specific type of gushing ejaculatory response that some vagina owners can have during sex.

Unfortunately, there's been so little thorough research done on this relatively common sexual occurrence, so even the most basic questions about squirting don't have clear-cut answers.

There isn't enough scientific research thus far to know whether all women can squirt. Studies have found anywhere from 10 to 54% of women experience some form of female ejaculation, according to a 2013 review of the literature1.

But some sex experts believe all people with vaginas can likely learn how to squirt with the right technique and under the right conditions.

There are two separate types of ejaculate released by vagina owners, and one of them—the type most commonly described as "squirting"—may be something most vagina owners can do, according to Zhana Vrangalova, Ph.D., a sex researcher and professor at New York University.

This type of ejaculate is thought to originate from the bladder2, and the clear and odorless fluid that's released comes out through the urethra in relatively large quantities.

Because all women have a bladder and urethra, Vrangalova says it's likely that most women can learn how to squirt this type of fluid with the right stimulation.

"My best educated guess as a psychologist and a scientist, someone who's been looking through this data, is that probably the vast majority of vagina owners can be made to expel that type of ejaculate, the one that comes through the urethra, provided the right kind of pressure, the right time physiologically," she says.

Studies show between 10 and 54% of women have experienced some form of female ejaculation. Among women who do squirt, most say it happens pretty regularly.

While the term "squirting" is often used to describe the clear, gushing type of ejaculate that likely comes from the bladder, the term "female ejaculation" is used to describe a second, separate type of ejaculate that's thought to originate from Skene glands. (Here's our full explainer on what squirt is if you want to get into the nitty-gritty details.)

Sometimes referred to as the "female prostate3," Skene glands are located in the area around the urethra, known as the urethral sponge. The ejaculate from Skene glands is a white, milky fluid that has chemical similarities to semen.

This second type of ejaculate is released in much smaller quantities, Vrangalova notes, because Skene glands are quite tiny compared to the bladder, which can hold and release quite a lot of liquid.

If this smaller, milkier "female ejaculation" happens without the gushing fluid from the bladder, it's possible that some women may not even notice it.

Skene glands are also still a bit of a mystery themselves: "There have been a couple of these anatomical studies on cadavers that have dissected that area trying to find Skene glands, and they can't really find them in everyone!" Vrangalova explains. "So it's possible that maybe 30 or 40% of vulva owners and vagina owners don't even have them."

If not all vagina owners have Skene glands, then it's possible that those without these glands aren't able to experience this form of ejaculation.

For what it's worth, squirting coaches do exist who claim they can teach people how to squirt. Herbenick says she's heard mixed reports about these types of classes, but Vrangalova has heard of more promising results, saying some squirting coaches have success rates of 90% or higher.

But without controls and schematic recordkeeping, she notes that these anecdotal reports can't be considered conclusive evidence that all women can squirt.

There's one study from 19844 in which researchers had 27 women come into a clinic to try to squirt for the first time.

"They'd ask them if they'd ever squirted before, and if they said no, they asked them, would you like to be part of this study where we try to get you to squirt?" Vrangalova explains. "So what they had was four different sessions, lasting up to an hour each, where the researcher tried to get these women to squirt. Only about a third of them managed to squirt after four sessions."

Some 37% of women were able to squirt from the experiment; 67% couldn't.

There's no conclusive evidence on whether or not all women can squirt.

We do know that all women have bladders and urethras, two of the body parts involved in producing the gushing squirting effect, which suggests that it's something any woman can learn to do in theory.

"Is this a worthy goal to work toward? You know, I don't know," Vrangalova notes. "I've been hearing a lot of people getting kind of fixated on achieving this goal, and I don't necessarily think that you need to have that in order to have a fulfilling sexual life in any way, shape, or form."

If you're interested in squirting, give it a go! If it doesn't happen, no biggie.