For Summer McKesson, the last three years have been head
spinning. 

First, she was diagnosed with a pair of dangerous genetic
conditions, including Marfan Syndrome. That sent her down a rabbit hole that
led to the revelation – via DNA testing and ancestry results on 23andMe – that her biological father is, in fact, former Duke
University Hospital Fertility Doctor Charles Peete, and that she
had more than 20 other half siblings, mostly in North Carolina. 

Her mother, a Fayetteville resident, had gone to Peete for
fertility treatments decades ago. The results seemed to show that Peete had
used his own sperm in the procedures again and again, without permission. 

“I didn’t even know I was a sperm donor baby, much less finding
out at the exact same time that, you know, the doctor…had used his sperm and
that I was a product of a crime,” said McKesson. 

Now, a year and a half after finding out about her true father,
McKesson is focused on getting her story out to as many people as possible, and
trying to make sure what happened to her family doesn’t happen again.

“The mothers deserve to know that this happened to them. And the
children, all of the half-siblings, deserve to know their medical history,” she
said. “Our intent was just to do the right thing and make a difference and try
to help save a life, especially with my genetic issues.” 

Dr. Charles Pete died in 2013. WRAL reached out to Duke Health,
asking if the hospital system has done anything to reach out to Peete’s former
patients, and what’s being done to ensure patient safety and transparency at
the fertility clinic now. 

Duke Health released a statement in response. Officials said they
were not able to comment on individual patients, but assured Duke Health is a “premier
center of excellence for reproductive healthcare and is committed to providing
the best fertility care for people who are seeking to build a family.”

“We have been made aware of unacceptable actions by an
individual that occurred in our program in the early days of fertility care
during the late 1970s and early 1980s. The unacceptable actions could not
happen today at Duke Health and should never have happened,” the statement read
in part.

McKesson said she doesn’t know how big her biological family may
ultimately be, but her research suggests this could be just the beginning. In
other cases of so-called ‘fertility fraud,  doctors have illicitly
fathered dozens of children. 

“There is one that [spans across] 15 years,” said McKesson, “and
they have over 100 half siblings. And our story so far is 21 years that it
spans across.” 

Just in the last week, her family circle has gotten bigger. A new
half-sibling was added to her family tree, one she hopes to talk to, to walk
him through his new reality.

“I remembered how I felt on that day, and I want to be able to
support anyone else who joins the same way that I was supported, and really, I
mean, just guide him through it,” she said.

McKesson said she also wants to push North Carolina’s state
legislature to take action – both to hold doctors like her biological father
accountable, and to protect kids like her.

“We’ve got a couple of contacts that want to help us do that and
just really push that forward,” said McKesson. “We all just shouldn’t say, ‘Oh,
it’ll never happen again.’ I think that we still need to do our due diligence
and protect patients.”