Infertility doctor secretly fathered dozens of children: how strangers became family
7/19/202632 min
What defines a family? For a group of strangers, that question took on a profound, unexpected meaning after DNA tests revealed a hidden, decades-old deception. They discovered they were all half-siblings conceived through artificial insemination in the mid-20th century. Their biological father was not the man who raised them, but Dr. Charles Charny, a Philadelphia fertility specialist.
In this week's episode of The Sunday Story, Frank Langfitt follows this unique family as they piece together their strange creation tale and decide to become a family.
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Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsAyesha Rascoe· Host0:01
I'm Aisha Roscoe, and this is The Sunday Story from Up First. [gentle music] Earlier this year, eight siblings gathered at a beachfront resort in Fort Lauderdale for a reunion.
Bryna· Guest0:14
Good to see you.
Ayesha Rascoe· Host0:15
Like some families, this one makes T-shirts.
Bryna· Guest0:18
For the reunion.
Ayesha Rascoe· Host0:19
Bryna, a retired college professor, hands them out.
Bryna· Guest0:23
Can someone take a picture of Joe with his T-shirt?
Ayesha Rascoe· Host0:26
The T-shirt features a photo of a sibling's father. He's a bald man with glasses.
Gil Brodsky· Guest0:31
Rather pleasant picture. Thin lips, of course.
Ayesha Rascoe· Host0:34
This is Gil Brodsky, another sibling. He reads the speech bubble next to his father's mouth.
Gil Brodsky· Guest0:40
It says, "Gilbert was my favorite."
Bryna· Guest0:42
I'm sorry.
Ayesha Rascoe· Host0:43
The T-shirt is a joke in more ways than one. Gil never knew his biological father, neither did anyone else at the table, including his half-sister, Dina Harris.
Bryna· Guest0:55
I don't know him. I mean, I think he was a bit eccentric, so who knows? I mean, it must have been sitting somewhere in his mind that what he did was odd.
Ayesha Rascoe· Host1:04
Until a decade ago, none of these siblings knew any of the others existed, and yet here they are at a family reunion, but not like one you've ever heard of. [pensive music] This is the story of a secret family, a group of strangers who uncovered a decades-old deception, then out of that, built genuine family connections,