MISCELLANY/ NEWSMAKERS AND MILESTONES

It was the first birthday of the three surviving Frustaci septuplets, born last May 21 at St. Joseph Hospital in Orange, but the occasion was somber.

An attorney representing the parents, Sam and Patti Frustaci of Riverside, revealed that the two boys have cerebral palsy and that all three suffer from eye, hearing and breathing disorders.

Janice M. Corsino, one of the lawyers representing the Frustacis in their $3.2-million suit against the doctor who administered fertility drugs to the mother, said the babies still are attached to breathing monitors.

When their breathing fails, “they’re stimulated to start breathing again,” Corsino said.

Medical expenses have surpassed $1 million, covered by medical insurance.

The Frustacis’ lawsuit is not expected to reach court for three or four years.

Their attorney also disclosed that the two surviving boys have had hernia surgery.

“It was a happy and a sad day” Wednesday, another family lawyer told reporters. “Happy because the three kids are still living but sad because the family relived the events that led to the deaths.”

On the birthday, Patti Frustaci visited the cemetery where the four infants who did not survive are buried and placed flowers and balloons at the graves, Corsino said.

The couple have declined to talk to reporters.

The septuplets were delivered a year ago last Wednesday at Childrens Hospital of Orange County in Orange. One was stillborn.

Soon after the birth--the first of septuplets in the United States--the Frustacis signed over exclusive rights to their story to People magazine in exchange for an undisclosed amount of money.

Since then, however, family attorneys have said that the Frustacis have had serious financial problems, partly because of Patti Frustaci’s inability to continue working as a teacher.