Telegram Founder Offers to Cover IVF Costs for Women Seeking to Have His Child

Telegram founder Pavel Durov has said he will pay for in vitro fertilisation procedures for women who wish to have children conceived using his donor sperm, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal.

The initiative is being carried out in cooperation with a Moscow-based medical clinic, the newspaper said. Women participating in the program must be under the age of 37 and unmarried, according to a former physician at the clinic cited by the report.

A representative for Durov said he is not involved in the clinic’s activities in any financial, managerial or operational capacity. The clinic initially agreed to comment but later declined to answer questions, citing a request from the Telegram founder.

Durov has previously said that all of his children, including those conceived using his donor sperm, will have equal inheritance rights.

In July 2024, Durov said he was the biological father of more than 100 children, explaining that he had acted as a sperm donor in the past and that his biological material remains stored at a medical facility.

He has also said he wants to promote sperm donation in order to expand options for families struggling to conceive.