Frankie Bolton is the son of Lauren Bolton and Joel Deering, born prematurely in 2024.
Biography[]
Lauren Bolton became pregnant when Joel Deering helped with her financial troubles in exchange for sex. She didn't want him to be involved, as he had been violent towards her, but he eventually learned of the pregnancy and promised to set her and the baby up in Ireland. The offer was actually a pretext for Joel to lace Lauren's soup with Misoprostol in order to induce labour, with the expectation that she would lose the baby. However, the child survived and was placed in an incubator after he was born on 2nd August 2024. Lauren named her son Frankie, after her grandfather Francis.
Lauren initially allowed Joel to visit Frankie, unaware that the labour was induced. When Dee-Dee Bailey, Joel's fiancée, realised what he'd done and told Lauren, Joel applied for custody of Frankie on the basis that Lauren had taken the Misoprostol herself in an attempt to illegally abort him. However, his case fell apart when Betsy Swain told the police that she'd ordered the drugs on Joel's behalf, and he was arrested.
Frankie's premature birth, and subsequent brain seizure, meant that he spent the first three months of his life at Weatherfield General. He was released in November into a foster home with Lauren, but was re-admitted to hospital a month later when bruises were found on his body. Lauren was suspected of harming him, but tests showed the baby had severe aplastic anaemia and would possibly need a bone marrow transplant. By that time, Joel was deceased, and Lauren was awaiting trial for his murder. Frankie was with Lauren in Norcross Prison's mother and baby unit, leading the Deerings to apply for custody to avoid him being brought up in prison. They dropped the case when Lauren was found not guilty. After being cleared, Lauren and Frankie returned to their foster home.
Frankie returned to hospital for the bone marrow transplant, and was discharged in May. With their foster placement coming to an end, Lauren used £500 loaned to her by Bobby Crawford to pay the deposit on a flat for her and Frankie and gained employment as a barmaid at the Rovers Return.
Frankie has two half-sisters through Joel: Maeve and Laila Bailey, his daughters with Emily Wilkinson and Dee-Dee Bailey respectively.
Background information[]
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