When most people talk of Viagra, they usually think of it with a grin and a snigger. Most patients (and doctors) feel it is of use only to men with sexual dysfunction, but the fact is that it can be very useful for some infertile couples, since sexuality and fertility are so closely linked.

For some couples, the reason they cannot have a baby is because of sexual dysfunction. Because of erectile dysfunction, they cannot consummate the marriage, and the stress of being childless compounds the sexual problem, making this even worse. Since this is an embarrassing problem, they refuse to seek medical help for it, so it gets steadily worse.

In fact, it is not until the pressure of not being able to have a baby causes the already stressed marriage to reach breaking point, will many of these couples seek medical attention - and not so much to solve the sexual problem, but rather to bypass it and start a family, usually by artificial insemination.

Some couples find having "scheduled" sex (timed intercourse as advised by the doctor) very stressful. This means that even though ordinarily they have no difficulty in having intercourse, the man often cannot get an erection when asked to " perform " at a particular time. This is called situational erectile dysfunction, and is not uncommon.

Many infertile men also find producing a semen sample " on demand" - either for testing or for treatment - very stressful as well. In fact, most doctors can recollect a horror story when a complete IVF cycle needed to be cancelled because the man could not produce a sperm sample in the clinic!

For many of these men,whose erectile problem is purely psychological, since it is induced as a result of anxiety, Viagra can be extremely helpful.

Now that Indian companies have started applying their ingenuity towards manufacturing sildenafil citrate, the Indian equivalent of Viagra (for which the brand name is Edegra) is available in India for a fraction of this price.