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Telegram Founder Pavel Durov, Reveals He Has Over 100 Children

By Odunmorayo Oke

31 July 2024   |   2:10 pm

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Pavel Durov, the co-founder of the popular messaging app Telegram, revealed that he has fathered over 100 children as a sperm donor in the past 15 years. Durov made the revelation in a post on his Telegram channel, which has 5.82 million subscribers. Durov stated that his motivation for being an active sperm donor was…

Pavel Durov, the co-founder of the popular messaging app Telegram, revealed that he has fathered over 100 children as a sperm donor in the past 15 years. Durov made the revelation in a post on his Telegram channel, which has 5.82 million subscribers.

Durov stated that his motivation for being an active sperm donor was to “destigmatise the whole notion of sperm donation and incentivise healthy men to do it,” so that more struggling families could have children. “Defy convention – redefine the norm!” he wrote.

The story began 15 years ago when Durov was approached by a married friend who was having trouble conceiving a child. Initially thinking it was a joke, Durov soon realized they were serious and decided to donate his sperm at a clinic.

At the clinic, Durov was told that there was a shortage of “high-quality donor material.” And that it was his “civic duty” to donate more sperm to help more couples anonymously. Over the years, Durov has donated sperm in 12 countries, resulting in over 100 biological children.

Pavel Durov is the founder and owner of Telegram. The messaging app has more than 700 million monthly active users worldwide. Also, Durov has a net worth of $15.5 billion, according to Forbes.

Although he has now stopped being a sperm donor. He does not discount the possibility of at least one in vitro fertilisation (IVF) clinic having his sperm available for anonymous use.

Durov plans to open-source his DNA to help his biological children find each other more easily. He stated that he does not regret being a sperm donor. And he is proud of his contribution, especially given the global shortage of healthy sperm.

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Elon Musk’s comment

Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, responded to Durov’s post with a cheeky comment. He said, “‘Rookie numbers lmao’ – Genghis Khan,” jokingly referencing the Mongol emperor who is believed to have had around 1,000 biological children.