‘It really has turned her life upside down.’ : Frustacis Come to the End of a Difficult Year

At the end of a quiet cul-de-sac, a mother who last year made international headlines by delivering septuplets answers the door of her ranch-style home. It is noon and her three surviving infants are napping.

Patti Frustaci looks tired. But she’s pleasant to the visitor, telling him that she cannot talk, and is unwilling to grant interviews “at this time.”

Patti and Samuel Frustaci still have an exclusive contract with People magazine that bars them from talking about their children to other news media. But indications are that the Frustacis, a quiet and devoted Mormon couple, have had a difficult year.

Had a Tough Time

The three surviving infants--who celebrate their first birthday Wednesday--have had a tough time. On May 21, 1985, Patricia Anne, Richard Charles and Stephen Earl were born 12 weeks prematurely, each weighing less than two pounds. They remained in the neonatal intensive care unit at Childrens Hospital of Orange County in Orange for almost five months before being allowed to go home.

One male infant was stillborn. Another boy died days after the birth, and two female babies died within three weeks. Patti Frustaci delivered them all by Caesarean section after spending three weeks lying in a hospital bed with her own health endangered.

Soon after the birth--the first of septuplets in the United States--the Frustacis signed over exclusive rights to their story to People in exchange for an undisclosed amount of money. People featured the family in a June 10, 1985, cover article.

One of the Frustacis’ two Los Angeles attorneys, however, told The Times that the babies have often been ill throughout the last year.

“They’ve had tremendous problems because of their prematurity,” attorney Janice Corsino said.

A family friend, who requested anonymity, said that the ordeal of the last year has been difficult for the family but that the mother has handled the arduous task well.

“Patti is a remarkable lady,” the friend said. “She’s a very strong lady. She’s got a big heart and soul and she’s coping with this as well as any human being can. It really has turned her life upside down.”

Also pending for the Frustacis is a $3.2-million lawsuit filed last October against the doctor who injected Patti Frustaci with fertility drugs and the West Los Angeles clinic where she was treated.

Medical Malpractice

The Frustacis accuse Dr. Jaroslav Marik and the Tyler Medical Clinic of medical malpractice and causing the wrongful deaths of the four infants who did not survive, through failure to properly care for the mother while she was being treated with the fertility drug Pergonal in the fall of 1984.

The lawsuit claims that Marik could have prevented “a medical catastrophe” if he had administered hormonal tests and special ultrasonic examinations. Through such early procedures, the Frustacis said that Marik could have detected the large number of eggs the 32-year-old mother had produced and prevented their fertilization.

Corsino, however, said that the lawsuit will probably not reach court for at least “three or four years.” Patti Frustaci, she said, has already given her deposition in the case and Marik soon will give his version.

The Frustacis’ medical expenses during the last year have surpassed $1 million, but so far the bills have been covered by medical insurance. Their attorney, however, said those benefits will soon reach policy limits.

Corsino also said that two of the infants only recently were taken off heart and oxygen monitors and are undergoing almost constant medical attention at Loma Linda Medical Center, where the children have been receiving their postnatal care.

Physical Therapy

“They require a lot of physical therapy and need close medical attention,” Corsino said.

Richard A. Schaefer, a spokesman for Loma Linda Medical Center, said the Frustacis have requested that all personnel caring for the children decline to answer questions pertaining to the infants’ health.

“I can’t even say what their condition is,” Schaefer said last week. “I can’t say anything without (the Frustacis’) permission.”

Patti Frustaci has devoted herself to caring for the three infants and her other son, Joseph, now 2. She has not returned to her job teaching high school English. Samuel Frustaci, 33, still works as an industrial equipment salesman in Buena Park.