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Oophorectomy (or ovariotomy) is the surgical removal of an ovary or ovaries. In the case of animals, it is also called spaying and is a form of sterilization. Removal of the ovaries in women is the biological equivalent of castration in males, and the term is occasionally used in the medical literature instead of oophorectomy. Another term that is used, but rarely, is "orchiectomy".