Telegram’s Founder Plans to ‘Open Source His DNA’

Pavel Durov, the laminitis of Telegram, posts similar your person who sends those weirdly horny emoji laden concatenation texts to the radical chat. It was betwixt a mind-blown emoji and a flexing-muscle emoji that Durov told the nationalist helium had much than 100 biologic kids and planned to unfastened root his DNA to assistance them find him.

“🤯 I was conscionable told that I person implicit 100 biologic kids. How is this imaginable for a feline who has ne'er been joined and prefers to unrecorded alone? 🤨” Durov said successful a post connected Telegram.

He explained that, 15 years ago, a person asked him to donate sperm astatine a session to assistance them due to the fact that they were having occupation conceiving.

“👨‍⚕️ The brag of the session told maine that ‘high prime donor material’ was successful abbreviated proviso and that it was my civic work to donate much sperm to anonymously assistance much couples,” Durov said successful his post. “This sounded brainsick capable to get maine to motion up for sperm donation 🚬.”

Fast guardant 15 years and, according to Durov, his sperm has helped much than 100 families successful 12 antithetic countries. Even better, his small guys are inactive connected pat astatine a Moscow IVF clinic. Now, helium says, helium wants to assistance each those kids fig retired who their sperm donor was.

“Now I program to open-source my DNA truthful that my biologic children tin find each different much easily. Of course, determination are risks, but I don’t regret having been a donor. The shortage of steadfast sperm has go an progressively superior contented worldwide, and I’m arrogant that I did my portion to assistance alleviate it 💪,” helium said.

IVF is simply a occurrence for families that can’t conceive and, connected 1 hand, it’s bully to spot a affluent tech billionaire promoting it, particularly successful America wherever state-level anti-abortion laws and an evangelical voting bloc are attacking it. “🚀 I besides privation to assistance destigmatize the full conception of sperm donation and incentivize much steadfast men to bash it, truthful that families struggling to person kids tin bask much options. Defy convention—redefine the norm! ✊”

Setting speech the nobility of attempting to normalize IVF, this is simply a profoundly weird post, right? It is 1 happening to accidental you’ve been a sperm donor, it is different to unfurl the banners and enactment retired the telephone to find the children your sperm helped marque possible.

An obsession with falling fertility rates and spreading one’s ain effect is de rigueur among the elite. There’s Simone and Malcolm Collins, the terminally online pro-natalist Redditors who share a Twitter handle, London think tanker Aria Babu, and—of course—Elon Musk. Musk is the begetter of astatine slightest 12 kids, perpetually frets implicit falling commencement rates, and reportedly volunteered his sperm to assistance jumpstart quality civilization connected Mars.

In promising to “open-source [his] DNA,” Durov is introducing a caller exemplary for affluent narcissists who privation to spot their genes scope heavy into the future: Spread your seed, springiness the children a accidental to find each other, and anticipation they find a mode to cement your legacy—no inheritance required.