Impotence and Sterility

Impotence

The inability of a person to perform sexual intercourse.

Sterility

The inability of a male to beget children, or the inability of a female to conceive children.

Sexual dysfunction

An impairment in the desire for sexual gratification or inability to achieve it.

Erectile dysfunction

Difficulty to attain and sustain an erection.

Impotentia ejaculandi

Failure to ejaculate.

Ejaculatio precox

Premature ejaculation.

Nullity of marriage

A marriage is null and void if consummation has not occurred.

Divorce

A legal dissolution of marriage, which may be granted if impotence is proven.

Adultery

A criminal offense where impotence may be raised as a defense.

Disputed paternity

Impregnated fatherhood, where impotence may be used as a defense in claims of legitimacy.

Ejaculatory duct

Common duct formed by seminal vesicle joining with vas deferens.

Vulva

Female external genitalia including mons pubis, labia majora, labia minora, clitoris.

Sexual cycle

A sequence of physiological events in sexual response, different in male and female.

Cyclic Guanosine Monophosphate (cGMP)

A molecule that mediates smooth muscle relaxation and erection.

Sildenafil (Viagra)

A drug that inhibits phosphodiesterase (PDE), helping maintain erection.

Frigidity

The inability to initiate or sustain sexual arousal in women.

Vaginismus

Spastic contractions of the vaginal walls, making penetration impossible.

Oedipus complex

A psychological condition where a person has feelings for a parent of the opposite sex and conflict with the same-sex parent.

Sterility

Permanent inability to beget children, which may affect males or females.

Artificial insemination

The introduction of semen into the female reproductive tract to achieve pregnancy.

Surrogate mother

A woman who carries a child for a couple or single person, intending to give the child up after birth.

Assisted reproductive technology (ART)

Fertility treatments involving manipulation of gametes outside the body to establish a pregnancy.

In Vitro Fertilization (IVF)

Fertilization of an ovum by sperm outside the body, followed by implantation in the uterus.