This play by Federico García Lorca is a brilliant exploration of the emotional issues surrounding infertility. It's set in a repressive Catholic community at the end of the last century; the main character is Yerma, a young woman who can't get pregnant, while all around her the other women in the village are having up to 14 children.

Yerma's friend Maria is only 19, and already having her second baby. Yerma finds it difficult to be around her – not because she resents the fact that Maria has children, but because she feels the dreadful emptiness of not having any herself. I do recognise that feeling from my patients. Some have to attend fertility clinics that are next to antenatal wards. Our clinic is standalone, so we don't have that problem, but some of our patients have complained because others attend with their young children, and they see them in the waiting room. It can be a very emotive issue.

The main role of women in Yerma's village is to marry young and become mothers. Of course, you don't find that social pressure on women now – at least not in western culture. But I do have patients coming through from the south Asian community in Bradford, where I would say similar social expectations around fertility can still apply.

The reasons for Yerma's infertility are never made clear, but it's implied that the problem lies with her husband Juan, a farmer who's far more interested in working than starting a family. He doesn't want to talk about their issues, which we do see at the clinic – men often bury themselves in their work rather than confront infertility problems.

By the end, Yerma is driven so mad by grief that she kills Juan. I can't say I've ever seen that happen, fortunately, but you frequently see couples driven apart by infertility – sometimes they separate even after they've been able to conceive via IVF. It can be very stressful.

Adam Balen is Professor of Reproductive Medicine and Surgery at the Leeds Centre for Reproductive Medicine.