Kim Dotcom is a new dad to twin girls - and the babies are Kiwis.
The girls were born in New Zealand on Thursday after Kim and Mona Dotcom were unable to go ahead with their plan to have them delivered in Hong Kong.
Those plans were thwarted when the United States took legal action against Dotcom and his company Megaupload. Allegations of criminal copyright breaches saw the internet millionaire arrested and his fortune frozen.
With no money and strict bail conditions, the couple turned to the New Zealand hospital system. It was a decision which won the twins citizenship and has forever bound Dotcom to his adoptive nation.
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Advertise with NZME."Two new Kiwis will be born today," he told the Herald on Sunday on Thursday as he and Mona prepared for the arrival of their girls at National Women's Hospital in Auckland.
They arrived as scheduled by caesarean, weighing in at 2.4kg and 2.8kg. On Friday, he texted: "Two healthy Kiwis were born yesterday. All good. When they asked me if I'd like to keep the placenta (weird question) I said 'yes' and 'please send it to the FBI for forensic analysis so they can verify there is no pirate DNA'."
The twins are Dotcom's fourth and fifth children and are expected to carry the signature "K" first names. The others are called Kimmo, Kaylo and Kobi.
The Herald on Sunday suggested a name and he responded: "Kiwi Dotcom it is. Awesome!"
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Advertise with NZME.Official documents obtained by the Herald on Sunday show the Dotcoms were planning to fly to Hong Kong in late January or early February for the birth.
They had relied on an obstetrician in Hong Kong at the birth of Kaylo and Kobi and wanted to have the same doctor attend the twins' arrival.
But that opportunity was denied when New Zealand police accepted a request from the US Department of Justice to arrest Dotcom and freeze his fortune.
Dotcom, who has denied all charges, spent a month in prison on remand. Last night, he thanked the judges who approved his bail application and rejected the Crown's appeal to have him returned to jail. "I would like to thank them for the opportunity to be there with Mona for the birth. It meant a lot to us."
The arrival of the girls will help the Dotcom family towards New Zealand citizenship. He had residency under the investor category and by staying in New Zealand for six months out of a year becomes "ordinarily resident" in late September. It means he will face no barriers to owning land, including the mansion the Government barred him from buying last year.
