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Moscow IVF Clinic Refuses to Stop Offering Putin Foe’s Sperm

Demand may very well skyrocket after the Kremlin effectively declared him an enemy of the state.

A Moscow fertility clinic has suddenly found itself at odds with the Kremlin over a stockpile of sperm donated by billionaire tech entrepreneur Pavel Durov, who’s now officially deemed a “terrorist” within the country. AltraVita has an entire webpage promoting IVF using the sperm of Durov, who it describes as “one of the most famous and successful entrepreneurs of our time.” The Telegram founder covers all costs involved in the IVF procedure to “help those who dream of becoming parents,” the clinic notes. Durov, 41, spoke openly in July 2024 about how he’d become a sperm donor 15 years earlier, crediting his biological material with helping 100 couples in 12 different countries become parents since then. Now, however, he’s a wanted man in his native country as Vladimir Putin’s security services seek his arrest on charges of facilitating terrorism. AltraVita has added a small disclaimer to its page that warns would-be recipient mothers of his inclusion on the state’s register of “terrorists and extremists” but said there were otherwise no plans to scrap his sperm donations. The charges against Durov, which come as Moscow moves to restrict access to messaging apps outside of the Kremlin’s control, were attributed to Telegram’s alleged failure to remove information on the app used by Ukrainian special services and extremist groups to organize attacks in Russia. Durov, who resides in Dubai and holds Emirati and French citizenship, has so far appeared to shrug off the charges, sharing a photo of himself on social media giving the middle finger. High-profile Moscow lawyer Alexander Dobrovinsky, in comments to local media, said “his sperm cells remain free and do not carry the extremist taint associated with Durov himself.”