# Infertility doctor secretly fathered dozens of children: how strangers became family

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/up-first-from-npr-7816123/infertility-doctor-secretly-fathered-dozens-of-children-how-strangers-became-family
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/up-first-from-npr-7816123/infertility-doctor-secretly-fathered-dozens-of-children-how-strangers-became-family.md
Podcast: [Up First from NPR](https://stenobird.com/podcast/up-first-from-npr-7816123)
Published: 2026-07-19T07:00:00+00:00
Episode link: https://www.spreaker.com/episode/infertility-doctor-secretly-fathered-dozens-of-children-how-strangers-became-family--73052144
Audio file: https://api.spreaker.com/download/episode/73052144/default.mp3
Processing state: not_requested
JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/up-first-from-npr-7816123/episodes/infertility-doctor-secretly-fathered-dozens-of-children-how-strangers-became-family
Duration seconds: 2091

## Resource

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. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. NPR Privacy Policy 🔗 ADDITIONAL RESOURCES: 📩 Get the full transcript and daily news alerts: 👉 https://goo.su/rXoU5U8 👈 📌 Support the show by visiting our sponsors and partners. 🎧 New episodes every morning at 6 AM ET.

## Actions

- request_transcript: `POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/up-first-from-npr-7816123/episodes/infertility-doctor-secretly-fathered-dozens-of-children-how-strangers-became-family/transcription-requests` — Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode.
- read_markdown: `GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/up-first-from-npr-7816123/infertility-doctor-secretly-fathered-dozens-of-children-how-strangers-became-family.md` — Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource.

A page view does not enqueue transcription. Agents should invoke `request_transcript` explicitly when they need this episode processed.

## Transcript

Full transcripts are not published on public pages unless there is a clear rights basis.