Pavel Durov, the founder and CEO of Telegram Messenger, recently shared a surprising personal revelation: he has over 100 biological children around the world, despite never having been married. The 39-year-old entrepreneur made this announcement via his popular Telegram channel on Monday evening, July 29.
Durov explained that he prefers to remain single and live alone. However, 15 years ago, a friend approached him with an unusual request—to donate sperm at a clinic due to the friend’s fertility issues. Durov agreed, which ultimately led to him helping over 12 families worldwide to have children. He described his sperm as “high-quality donor material.”
“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?” Durov wrote. “Fifteen years ago, a friend approached me with a weird request. He said that he and his wife couldn’t have kids due to a fertility issue and asked me to donate sperm at a clinic for them to have a baby. I laughed my ass off before realizing he was dead serious.”
Durov continued, “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.”
As of 2024, Durov’s donations have helped over 100 couples in 12 countries to have children. Even years after he stopped being a donor, at least one IVF clinic still has his frozen sperm available for anonymous use.
Durov hinted at plans to open-source his DNA so that his biological children could easily find him, despite the associated risks. He stated, “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 also encouraged healthy men to consider sperm donation to help families struggling with fertility issues globally.
Pavel Durov, originally from Russia, is now an Emirati entrepreneur. In 2022, Forbes recognized him as the richest expat in the United Arab Emirates. In February 2023, Arabian Business named him the most powerful entrepreneur in Dubai.