Moscow clinic offering free sperm from billionaire Telegram founder
A fertility clinic in Moscow is offering free in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment to women who want to have a child using sperm from Pavel Durov, the billionaire tech entrepreneur behind the Telegram messenger app.
In July, Durov claimed that he has over 100 biological children thanks to sperm donations. The 40-year-old said he first became a donor 15 years ago to help a friend and his wife have a child. He pointed to a specific medical facility in the Russian capital, saying it still has some of his frozen samples.
Last week, the AltraVita clinic said it was proud of Durov’s endorsement and being able to offer his genetic material to patients. According to its website, it has a limited offer of free IVF procedures using the tech entrepreneur’s sperm, funded by a grant from the donor himself. It is Durov’s way of contributing to society and helping those who dream of parenthood, the medical facility stated.
Clinic director Sergey Yakovenko told Russian media that the program was possible due to his long-time personal friendship with Durov. The billionaire, who is based in Dubai, is yet to confirm funding IVF treatments in Russia.
In his post in July, Durov said he wanted to make his DNA code “open-source” so that his biological children could find each other, should they want to.
Earlier this year, a woman named Irina Bolgar accused Durov of neglecting his parental duties and mistreating her and the three children they had together between 2013 and 2017. She has filed a legal complaint in Switzerland, where she and the children currently live. Bolgar claims she and Durov had a relationship which gives her a rightful claim to part of his business.
A spokesman for the billionaire has stated that the two were never a couple and instead had an arrangement under which Bolgar brought up Durov’s children in exchange for a generous allowance. She allegedly breached the deal by spending some of the money on herself.
“Mr. Durov has many children, and he supports each of them equally at a rate of $10,000 per month per child,” the representative told the New York Times last month.
