While the name laptop connotes that this device be placed on a person's lap while computing, doctors have warned against the practice because of its potential damage to male sperm.

The argument against such usage of laptop was proven in the case of a 30-year-old British couple who could not have a baby after six months of attempting. When Scott and Laura Reed visited their doctor, the physician blamed the heat from the laptop for damaging the husband's sperm.

Mr Reed, an electrician, followed the doctor's advice to instead place his laptop on a table while using the gadget. Three months after following his physician, Mrs Reed conceived.

She eventually gave birth to a daughter, Taryn, now 11 months old, on Dec 8, 2011.

The couple from Clanfield in Hampshire, England, initially thought the cause of Mrs Reed's inability to conceived was due mumps that Mr Reed had when he was 21, which could have caused his fertility problem. They were even exploring the idea of undergoing IVF just to have a child of their own.

Tests conducted by the andrology department of the Queen Alexandra Hospital in Portsmouth found that Mr Reed produces a healthy amount of sperm, but heat has damaged his seed.

The doctors initially asked if Mr Reed is a chef, who is more prone to sperm damage because of the heat from constant cooking. When he answered in the negative, the physicians asked if he uses a laptop.

"Scott would use his laptop in the evenings for a couple of hours on and off while we are watching television. He would use it for work and general things like Facebook. We had absolutely no idea the damage it was causing him," The Daily Mail quoted Mrs Reed.

Sue Kenworthy, biomedical andrologist of Queen Alexandra Hospital, disclosed that when she examined Mr Reed's sperm under the miscroscope, the tail of the sperm had coiled around the head due to the heat damage.

"This means it can't swim quickly and get to the egg," she explained.

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