Meet the tech mogul who has fathered more than 100 children in 12 countries and still donates sperm to spread ‘high-quality’ genetic material
A Russian billionaire who claims to have fathered more than 100 children claims women want his “high-quality” genes.
Pavel Durov, founder of the Telegram app, said he has donated sperm on a large scale to dozens of couples in 12 different countries.
But the unmarried 39-year-old, with an estimated fortune of £14billion, is still open to fathering more children through IVF clinics.
In a post on his own app, he claimed it was his “civic duty” given his “high quality donor material.”
According to a Russian news site E1.RUDurov’s sperm can also still be purchased at a clinic in Moscow, for 35,000 rubles (£303).
Pavel Durov, founder of the Telegram app, said he had donated sperm on a large scale to dozens of couples in 12 different countries. But the unmarried 39-year-old, who is worth an estimated £14billion, is still open to fathering more children through IVF clinics.
Their investigation also found that IVF treatment using his sperm would cost more than 300,000 rubles (£2,600) and artificial insemination £700.
His profile also states that he is a vegetarian, likes to “get up early” and speaks nine foreign languages, including English, Persian and Latin, E1. RU claimed.
Mr Durov also recently claimed that he was the father of more than 100 children as a sperm donor.
This is because a few days earlier he admitted to Telegram that he has “more than 100 biological children.”
He said: ‘My previous donation activities have helped more than a hundred couples in twelve countries to have children.’
The tech billionaire explained that he signed up for sperm donation 15 years ago when a friend approached him with a “strange request.”
Although sperm donors in the UK are only allowed to provide samples to 10 families, some overseas centres allow sperm donations from the same individual to be used to create 1,000 or more families.
Mr Durov also recently claimed that he has fathered more than 100 children as a sperm donor. In a Telegram message he wrote: ‘I was just told that I have more than 100 biological children’
He added: ‘He and his wife were unable to have children due to fertility problems and asked me to donate sperm at a clinic so they could have a child.’
He said he saw donating sperm as one of his “civic duties” and claimed he wanted to “make his DNA public” so his biological children could more easily find each other.
The tech mogul added: ‘Of course there are risks, but I don’t regret being a donor.
‘The shortage of healthy sperm has become an increasingly serious problem worldwide and I am proud to have done my part to help solve this problem.
‘I also want to remove the stigma surrounding sperm donation and encourage more healthy men to do it.’
In the UK, current rules state that one sperm donor can only start ten families, with each family potentially including multiple siblings.
However, there are no regulations limiting the number of families that donors can create abroad.
Some overseas centers allow sperm donations from the same individual to be used to create 1,000 or more separate families.
Experts warn that the problem is becoming increasingly urgent as more than half of the donated sperm used in the UK is imported from abroad, while demand for sperm donors is growing as more single women and same-sex female couples have children.
In a post on his own app, he claimed it was his “civic duty” given his “high-quality donor material.” According to Russian news site E1.RU, Durov’s sperm can also still be purchased from a clinic in Moscow for 35,000 rubles (£303)
According to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA), the fertility regulator, the number of female same-sex couples choosing IVF rose by 33 percent between 2019 and 2021.
Meanwhile, the number of single women undergoing artificial insemination increased by 26 percent.
Last year, Professor Jackson Kirkman-Brown, president of the Association of Reproductive and Clinical Scientists, warned that it could be “psychologically damaging” for children to discover they have hundreds or even thousands of half-siblings.
He said, ‘If you’ve always thought you have this incredibly special talent, it’s very hard to grasp that suddenly there are 300 people who share 50 percent of your DNA.’
Research also shows that donor-conceived people often feel pressured to maintain contact with dozens of half-siblings, but this can be “nearly impossible” and cause a lot of stress.
Last month, Netflix premiered the explosive documentary “The Man with 1,000 Kids,” which investigated Jonathan Meijer, who scammed dozens of parents around the world.
Women said they felt “betrayed” and “angry” when they discovered how many other children the musician, now 43, has already fathered.
Meijer was banned from donating sperm in the Netherlands in 2017 after it became known that he was the father of 102 children born from donations to 11 clinics in the country.
He continued to donate in other countries until 2023, when a woman and a foundation that supported her filed a civil lawsuit against Meijer, alleging that he increased the risk of incest in his children.
Meijer admitted in his testimony that he had between 550 and 600 children.
However, the court found that he may have fathered as many as a thousand children on different continents.
Ultimately, the judge banned Meijer from donating sperm to new parents in the Netherlands, saying that if he did, he would be fined €100,000 (£85,000) per donation.