A Florida mom who handed over several unopened boxes of IVF medication to a friend wasn't expecting anything in return. Arsiak Vartenian, 48, who had undergone multiple rounds of fertility treatment herself, knew how costly the medications were and wanted to help someone facing the same uphill battle. Months later, her friend sent her a photo.
The baby in the picture had been conceived during the IVF journey that Vartenian's donated medication helped make possible. "When she told me, I was so happy for her," Vartenian told Newsweek. "She now has two beautiful kids and the family she's always wanted." Vartenian, who shares her 4-year-old daughter Valentina with husband 45-year-old Amir Syed, struggled with infertility for years before becoming a mother.
During treatment, she often felt isolated and overwhelmed by the uncertainty of the process. "It just made me feel defeated," Vartenian said. "I couldn't control the things that I wanted to have or happen naturally." For many people undergoing IVF, the cost of treatment can run into tens of thousands of dollars.
A single IVF cycle in the U.S. typically costs around $15,000 before additional expenses such as medication, which can add thousands more to the final bill, according to the American Society for Reproductive Medicine. Although Vartenian's insurance covered the majority of the cost, she said the financial burden is only part of the story. "Hope is expensive," she said.
"It's expensive on all fronts of life, not just financially, but emotionally, physically and socially. It just makes you feel like, what's left?" As she moved through multiple IVF cycles, Vartenian occasionally ended up with unopened medication that had been prescribed but never used. Her clinic accepted some unused supplies back, but when two friends revealed they were undergoing fertility treatment, she realized she could help directly.
One friend told her she had been quoted thousands of dollars for medications needed for her next cycle. "I said, 'I have that in my fridge,'" Vartenian said. "I did it because I wanted to do it, not because I had to do it." The decision felt natural.
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