Handling options with optional arguments with getopts

[nigelberlinguer via Bug reports for the GNU Bourne Again SHell]

I am trying to use getopts so one of the options can use an optional argument.

Have seen many discussions online about using getopts to handle options with 
optional arguments,
But also a lot of confusing arguments against many workarounds. Could bash 
getopts have a natural
way to introduce an option with a optional argument, and have the procedure 
documented in the bash manual,
with an example, if you please.