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Retired Detroit fertility doctor believed to have fathered ‘hundreds’ of children

Woman discovers biological father was mother’s fertility doctor

DETROIT – A long-time Detroit doctor is believed to have fathered hundreds of children over the decades.

One woman just found out that he is her biological father.

“I ran Ancestry.com and I also went through 23andMe,” said Traverse City resident Jaime Hall. “I was looking for a lot of Scottish but when it came back 50% Ashkenazi Jew, I was like ‘Well that doesn’t make sense.’”

Hall ended up coming across a very familiar name: her mother’s fertility doctor.

“The name ‘Peven’ appeared. I very quickly made the association he’s on my birth certificate and I remembered him being my mother’s OB-GYN, so I looked at my husband and I said, ‘I don’t think my donor is who my mom thought it was,’” Hall said.

Since then, Hall says that she has encountered five other siblings who share a similar story.

Dr. Philip Peven, who is now 104 years old and retired, practiced at Grace Hospital in Detroit from the 1950s through the 1980s. During that time, it’s believed he donated his DNA throughout the decades.

The woman does not have ill will in her heart for the doctor. Instead, she thanks him for the gift of life.

“He believed himself to be -- and I think that most of these doctors did -- doing something for the women scientifically. Some feel differently and feel violated, and I’ve heard those things. Personally, I’m happy to be here,” Hall said. “The journey has been an interesting one. I think that there’s a lot more of us out there that might want to do some DNA checking.”

Peven still lives in Michigan.

You can watch the full report in the video above.


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About the Author
Victor Williams headshot

Victor Williams joined Local 4 News in October of 2019 after working for WOIO in Cleveland, OH, WLOX News in Biloxi, MS, and WBBJ in Jackson, TN. Victor developed a love for journalism after realizing he was a great speaker and writer at an early age.

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