John Gotti’s Daughter Victoria to Undergo Kidney Transplant (Exclusive)

Victoria Gotti, the daughter of infamous mob boss John Gotti, is scheduled to have a kidney transplant in NYC at NYU Langone Health Transplant in the upcoming weeks, PEOPLE has learned exclusively. Her eldest son, Carmine Gotti Agnello, 39 (with ex-husband Carmine Agnello), has met the medical qualifications to become her donor.

“She has three sons (John, 38, and Frank, 35), and all along, Carmine insisted,” said a Gotti family source. “‘It’s got to be me,’ Carmine said. ‘That’s all.’ Victoria feels her son is giving her a brand-new life.”

Gotti, 63, a best-selling novelist and former reality TV star and the centerpiece of Growing Up Gotti (2004 – 2005), who later wrote and produced the Lifetime biopic Victoria Gotti: My Father’s Daughter (2019), has kept a low-key public profile in recent years.

Her health issues started in her 20s when she was put on blood thinners due to a heart mitral valve prolapse (MVP) diagnosis and later a heightened leaky valve. Her blood levels became elevated around five years ago, says the source.

Over the summer, Gotti learned she had chronic kidney disease (CKD). After the transplant, Gotti is expected to be in the hospital for up to three months, while Carmine will be released after two to three weeks.

According to the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS), as reported in January 2025, approximately 90,000 people are on the national kidney transplant waiting list, with 15% of Americans facing chronic kidney disease.

While deceased donor kidneys are most commonly used in transplants, it can take up to three to five years to receive a match, but that timing could be “shorter or longer,” per the UNOS.

The Mayo Clinic states: “Living-donor transplantation offers an alternative to waiting for a deceased-donor organ to become available for people in need of an organ transplant. In addition, living-donor organ transplants are associated with fewer complications than are deceased-donor transplants and, overall, a longer survival of the donor organ.”

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Gotti has always been close to her sons, attending soccer games even when she was promoting her mystery novels and cookbooks. “Carmine would do anything for his mother,” says the family source. “But this truly tops it.”

To learn more about becoming a donor, visit the National Kidney Registration.