Victoria Gotti is preparing for a major medical procedure that will once again put family at the center of her story.
According to People, the former reality TV star and bestselling author is scheduled to undergo a kidney transplant in New York City in the coming weeks, with her eldest son, Carmine Gotti Agnello, stepping forward as her donor.
Victoria, 63, learned over the summer that she has chronic kidney disease after years of health complications. A spokesperson for the Gotti family told the outlet that her son, Carmine, 39, had decided from the start to be the one to donate.
The family spokesperson also added that Victoria views the gesture as nothing short of life-changing, saying she feels her son is “giving her a brand-new life.”
The transplant is expected to take place at NYU Langone Health Transplant. Following the surgery, Victoria will likely spend up to three months recovering at home, while Carmine’s recovery timeline is expected to be closer to two to three weeks.
Health struggles are not new for Victoria. In her 20s, she was diagnosed with mitral valve prolapse, a condition that required long-term blood thinner use and later contributed to additional complications.
Over time, elevated blood levels raised further concerns, eventually leading to her chronic kidney disease diagnosis earlier this year.
The daughter of infamous mob boss John Gotti, Victoria rose to pop-culture prominence in the mid-2000s as the star of A&E’s Growing Up Gotti, which followed her life as a single mother raising three sons following her divorce from Carmine Agnello in 2003, whom she claimed "constructively abandoned" her while he was incarcerated.
Beyond television, she built a career as a novelist, memoirist, and columnist, publishing multiple books that blended fiction with reflections on her personal experiences. In 2019, she co-wrote and executive-produced the Lifetime biopic Victoria Gotti: My Father’s Daughter.