In news that will surprise no one, another wealthy exec has joined the growing list of tech bros obsessed with populating the earth with their offspring. Founder and CEO of chat platform Telegram, Pavel Durov, has partnered with a Moscow-based IVF clinic to cover the cost of in vitro fertilisation for interested women.
Though quite bizarre, the Pavel Durov to IVF pipeline isn’t as left-field as one might initially think.
Earlier this year, the tech CEO revealed that he had fathered “over 100 biological kids” across a 15-year period in a post shared to his own platform, Telegram.
“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,” the post continues.
Durov’s post – which has 16.6 million views – also outlined his plans to “outsource his DNA” in the hopes that his biological children could find each other, if they wanted to, before concluding the post with a mobilising call.
“I also wanted to destigmatise the whole notion of sperm donation and incentivise more healthy men to do it, so that families struggling to have kids can enjoy more options. Defy convention – redefine the norm!”
Sounds admirable, right? Well, yes … on one hand attempting to dismantle the still very real stigma many people face when going through IVF is applaudable, but on the other hand, it seems to point to a growing trend, or rather, fascination bordering-on-obsession, with increasing the global birth rate.
Chief member of the tech billionaire boys club, close Trump supporter and father to at least 12, Elon Musk, has been increasingly vocal about falling birth rates and his will to reverse the figure as a matter of urgency, even offering up his services to Taylor Swift in an unhinged tweet that read: “Fine Taylor … you win… I will give you a child.”
So when Durov offered to partner with the AltraVita clinic in Russia to finance IVF-related procedures for those willing to participate, it felt like a step up from the usual repopulating rhetoric.
The website advertising the service also makes mention of its “exclusive right to store and use biomaterial of Pavel Durov.”
As we know, the pathway to IVF parenthood can be hindered by multiple obstacles, not least its associated financial costs, so offering to cover costs sounds great on paper. The catch? You must be willing to use the tech CEO’s donor sperm or “biomaterial” – the product of “one of the most famous and successful entrepreneurs of our time,” according to the clinic’s website.
While to many, this type of assistance could be lifechanging, it’s also – as with any medical procedure – not without its risks, not to mention the whole thing truly sounds like the makings of a dystopic sci-fi thriller.
Who Is Pavel Durov?
Successful he may be, Durov’s platform Telegram stands accused of being a technological touch point for criminal activity.
In September this year, The New York Times published an analysis of more then 3.2 million Telegram messages, and the results were alarming to say the least.
“The company, which offers features that enable criminals, terrorists and grifters to organize at scale and to sidestep scrutiny from the authorities, has looked the other way as illegal and extremist activities have flourished openly on the app,” the report begins, before labelling the Durov-created app as a combination of “the anonymity of the dark web, with the ease-of-use of an online marketplace.”
Pavel Durov created the toxic platform as a response to alleged government interference in people’s online activity. In a post in defence of the app, Durov wrote: “Were it entirely up to us, we would always give our users what they ask for: access to uncensored information and opinions so that they can make their own decisions.”
In August, the tech CEO was arrested and charged with failing to prevent illicit activity – which includes crimes relating to distribution of child sexual abuse material, drug trafficking and fraud – just to name a few.
The platform was also the point of focus of security researchers, who were monitoring the app for “threats of violence” in the lead up to the US election – which is also a telling indication of the type of content shared across the platform.
So no tech bros, women don’t want your sperm, and this is why.
This article originally appeared on Marie Claire Australia and is republished here with permission.
