The cell cycle process in which two small cells are generated, as byproducts destined to degenerate, as a result of the first and second meiotic divisions of a primary oocyte during its development to a mature ovum. One polar body is formed in the first division of meiosis and the other in the second division; at each division, the cytoplasm divides unequally, so that the polar body is of much smaller size than the developing oocyte. At the second division in which a polar body is formed, the polar body and the developing oocyte each contain a haploid set of chromosomes.