G-Spot Study: Erogenous or Erroneous Zone?

Jan. 6, 2010— -- California saleswoman Tamara Bell has been married 26 years and she credits the longevity of her relationship, in part, to the contentious G-spot.

"In my first nine years of marriage I thought I was having an orgasm until I really experienced one," says Bell.

The mother of three says she learned to find her G-spot with the help of Ava Cadell, a Los Angeles sex counselor and founder of Loveology University, an online school that offers G-spot certification among other courses in female sexuality.

Cadell is one of many sex educators and researchers who are refuting a study published this week by King's College London that questions the existence of the notorious G-spot -- a debate that has swirled for more than a half century.

The G-spot -- to those who believe in the anatomical phenomenon -- is a ridged patch that responds to gentle stroking, located 1.5 to 3 inches up on the anterior wall of the vagina, somewhere between 11 and 1 o'clock if noon were the navel.

"The controversial G-spot has no genetic component and therefore probably doesn't exist," says Tim Spector, professor of genetic epidemiology at Kings College London and study co-author.

The "G" refers to German gynecologist Ernst Graefenberg, who in 1950 described female ejaculation and an erogenous zone where the urethra is closest to the vaginal wall.

Ever since, doctors have continued to be skeptical, even after an Italian study published in the Journal of Sexual Medicine in 2008 said the G-spot is detectable by ultrasound.

King's College researchers claim the spot -- purported to be a cluster of 32 nerve endings like a female prostate gland -- may be all in women's heads.

"Women may argue that having a G-spot is due to diet or exercise, but in fact it is virtually impossible to find real traits," said Spector. "This is by far the biggest study ever carried out and it shows fairly conclusively that the idea of a G-spot is subjective."