He also said the media attention, and criticism made it difficult for his mother to deal with the pain of losing four of her children.
‘It was difficult. She’s a normal woman thrust into notoriety … the overall frenzy took its toll,’ he told the outlet.
Patricia Frustaci gave birth to her septuplets after undergoing fertility treatments. While the births received national attention, the occasion was marked with tremendous sadness for the Frustaci family.
Because the children were delivered 12 weeks early via cesarean-section they had a number of health issues including heart problems, jaundice and hyaline membrane disease, a respiratory ailment.
A girl, named Christina, was stillborn. A baby boy, named David, died about three days after he was born. Another girl, named Bonnie, and a boy named James died before they could leave the hospital.
The three surviving babies were named Stephen, Richard, and Patricia.
Joseph told Mercury News that Patricia is married with two kids; Stephen lives in Las Vegas with their father, and Richard lives independently.
Following the births of the septuplets, Patricia Frustaci and her husband Samuel Frustaci struggled to pay the medical bills, which reached $1million.
The family later sued the fertility clinic and doctor alleging wrongful death of the four babies and negligence that led to the surviving children suffering health problems that needed round-the-clock care.
According to the New York Times, Patricia Frustaci believed that she was not closely monitored enough at the beginning of her pregnancy and thought her doctor gave her too high a dose of Pergonal, the medication she received during her fertility treatments.
The clinic never acknowledged any wrongdoing but agreed to pay the family $450,000 and to provide monthly payments to the surviving three children for life.
Despite her struggles, Patricia Frustaci gave fertility treatment another shot and in 1990 gave birth to twins, named Jaclyn and Jordan. Soon after their arrival, she divorced from her husband.
Joseph said the twins are college graduates and are doing well.
‘She (Patricia) was the funniest person I’ve ever known. She made regular, mundane errands an adventure,’ he told Mercury News. ‘We miss her terribly, we miss her deeply.’
Credits: dailymail.co.uk
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