The Serious Medical Condition Sylvester Stallone's Daughter Sophia Lives With

One of Sylvester Stallone's daughters was diagnosed with a serious medical condition when she was just a young girl. The "Rocky" actor is the proud dad of five children: sons Sage and Seargeoh, whom he welcomed with his first wife, Sasha Czack, and daughters Sophia, Sistine, and Scarlet, whom he shares with his current wife Jennifer Flavin. Sophia, his eldest daughter, was born on August 27, 1996 in Miami. She graduated with a major in Communications from the University of Southern California in the spring of 2019, according to CNN. Currently, she stars in the Paramount+ reality series "The Family Stallone" and co-hosts the "Unwaxed" podcast with her sister Sistine. Speaking with Paris Match in 2012, Jennifer said that out of all their three daughters, it is Sophia who is most similar to her father.

Jennifer said, "She is the one that most resembles her father. Like him she has read nearly all of Shakespeare's books." Adding, "They have a very special bond, they think alike and even have the same gestures. Sophia is the love of his life."  On her 25th birthday in August 2021, Sylvester penned a sweet tribute to his eldest daughter on social media. "We wish our wonderful @sophiastallone a VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!" the "Rambo" star wrote. "You have been a source of bravery and pride since the moment you were born... We love you." Unknown to many, Sophia has been living with a serious medical condition since she was just barely a year old.

Sophia Rose Stallone was born with a congenital heart defect — specifically, a hole in her heart — causing her to undergo surgery when she was just two months old and again when she was 16. While the initial operation was successful, the eldest daughter of Sylvester Stallone had to undergo another procedure in 2012 due to a congenital malformation of a heart valve, according to People. At the time, she told Paris Match magazine, per Hello! Magazine, "Every day I think of my heart. I eat really healthy, and as I get more tired than normal, I have to be very careful when doing sports. Now I have to have surgery again because the tissue they put in 16 years ago has widened and I have problems with the valves," she explained.

Opening up about her condition on "The Family Stallone," Sophia said that doctors initially couldn't figure out what was wrong with her back when she was a baby. Eventually, her mother, Jennifer Flavin, found one who was able to diagnose her, and Sophia underwent her first surgery at just 2 months old. She went to live a pretty normal life for years after that, until one day in 2012, she collapsed while playing volleyball. Per Access, Sophia feared for her life prior to her second heart surgery: "The moment I found out I needed an operation was one of the most pivotal experiences of my entire life because I never had to consider death before."

Looking back, Sophia Rose Stallone said the hardest part about her health battle was seeing how her parents, Jennifer Flavin and Sylvester Stallone, were affected by the whole ordeal. "Like, Mom, she had rashes all over her body. And Dad couldn't even talk to me without crying about it," she said in a June 14 episode of "The Family Stallone," per HollywoodLife. Sophia said she found herself having to put on a brave face for her family despite fearing for her life prior to her 2012 surgery. "I felt like I had to hold it together," she said during a heart-to-heart talk with her father. She added that she didn't even cry nor worry about her surgery until the actual day of the procedure when everyone in the room had left and she was all alone. "Because I thought if I lose it, we would all fall."

Sylvester went on to praise his eldest daughter for being so brave. "I mean, we're all falling apart and she had to put on a brave face," he said (via Access). He also confessed that every year when Sophia has her annual check-up, he and the whole family feel a certain "weight on their hearts" over fear that they might be told she'll need another surgery. As a father, Sly said it is one of her biggest fears. "That would be... devastating is too gentle of a word," he said.