Telegram messenger app founder Pavel Durov has revealed to his followers that he is the biological father of over 100 children across 12 countries.
He made the revelation on his Telegram channel where he shared how he became a biological father to over 100 children through sperm donations.
He wrote: “I was just told that I have over 100 biological kids. How is this possible for a guy who has never been married and prefers to live alone?”
He said he was approached by a friend nearly 15 years ago who couldn’t have their kid and requested him to donate his sperm at a clinic for them to have a baby.
“The boss of the clinic told me that ‘high quality donor material’ was in short supply and that it was my civic duty to donate more sperm to anonymously help more couples. This sounded crazy enough to get me to sign up for sperm donation,” he said.
“Fast forward to 2024, my past donating activity has helped over a hundred couples in 12 countries to have kids. Moreover, many years after I stopped being a donor, at least one IVF clinic still has my frozen sperm available for anonymous use by families who want to have kids,” he said.
He said he intends to open-source his DNA so that his biological children could connect more easily.
“Now I plan to open-source my DNA so that my biological children can find each other more easily. Of course, there are risks, but I don’t regret having been a donor. The shortage of healthy sperm has become an increasingly serious issue worldwide, and I’m proud that I did my part to help alleviate it,” he said.
Who is Pavel Durov?
Pavel Durov is a Russian-born Emirati entrepreneur who is known for founding the social networking site VK and the app Telegram Messenger.