A Russian billionaire who claims to have fathered more than 100 children says women want his “high-quality” genes.
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 39-year-old bachelor, with an estimated fortune of £14billion, is still open to having 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 the Russian news site E1.ESDurov’s sperm can still be bought at a Moscow clinic 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 39-year-old single man, with an estimated fortune of £14bn, is still open to having more children through IVF clinics.
Their research also found that IVF treatment using their sperm could cost people more than 300,000 roubles (£2,600) and artificial insemination £700.
His profile also says 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 to have fathered more than 100 children as a sperm donor.
This comes after he took to Telegram a few days earlier to confess that he has “more than 100 biological children.”
He said: ‘My previous donation activity has helped more than a hundred couples in 12 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 can only provide samples to 10 families in the UK, some overseas centres allow sperm donations from the same person to be used to create 1,000 or more.
Mr Durov also recently claimed to have fathered more than 100 children as a sperm donor. In a Telegram post, 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 a fertility problem and they asked me to donate sperm at a clinic so they could have a baby.”
He said he felt donating sperm was one of his “civic duties” and said he wanted to “make his DNA public” so his biological children could find each other more easily.
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 around the world and I am proud to have done my part to help alleviate it.
‘I also want to help destigmatize the whole concept of sperm donation and encourage more healthy men to do it.’
In the UK, current rules mean that a single sperm donor can only create ten families in this country, and each family can potentially include several siblings.
But there are no regulations limiting the number of families donors can create abroad.
Some foreign centers allow sperm donations from the same person to be used to create 1,000 or more separate families.
Experts warn the issue is becoming more urgent because more than half of donated sperm used in Britain is imported from abroad and demand for sperm donors is growing due to a rise in the number of single women and same-sex female couples having 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 be bought from a clinic in Moscow, for 35,000 roubles (£303).
The number of same-sex female couples undergoing IVF rose by 33 per cent between 2019 and 2021, according to fertility regulator the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA).
Meanwhile, the number of single women undergoing artificial insemination increased by 26 percent.
Last year, Professor Jackson Kirkman-Brown, president of the Association of Clinical and Reproductive Scientists, warned that it could be “psychologically damaging” for children to discover they have hundreds or even thousands of half-siblings.
She said: “If you’ve always thought you were an incredibly special gift, to suddenly find out there are 300 people who share 50 per cent of your DNA is a very difficult concept to wrap your head around.”
Research also suggests that donor-conceived people often feel pressure to keep in touch with dozens of half-siblings, but this can be “almost impossible”, which can cause great stress.
Last month, Netflix released an explosive documentary, ‘The Man with 1,000 Sons,’ which investigates Jonathan Meijer, who defrauded dozens of parents around the world.
The women told how they felt “betrayed” and “angry” after discovering how many other children the musician, now 43, had fathered.
Meijer was banned from donating sperm in the Netherlands in 2017 after it emerged he was the father of 102 children, born from donations made to 11 clinics across 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, arguing that he was increasing the risk of incest for their children.
In his testimony, Meijer admitted to having fathered between 550 and 600 children.
However, the court said he may have fathered as many as 1,000 children on several continents.
The judge eventually banned Meijer from donating sperm to new parents in the Netherlands and said he would be fined €100,000 (£85,000) per donation if he did so.