Russian acrobatics star asks fans to become 'godparents' to her baby in exchange for iPhone & MacBook

Russian acrobat Alyona Kulakova has cheekily extended her flexibility to offering her followers who are unable to have offspring the chance to become godparents to her future baby if they give her an iPhone and MacBook.

National team member Kulakova teased fans by holding up a scan of a baby in an unusual break from her usual elastic poses, accompanied by a startled-looking cat balancing on her knee.

The Apple-loving athlete, who had performed the splits on a pair of ropes in a playground days beforehand, warned her followers that the news would come as a shock as she lampooned the pregnancy announcements often made by big-name stars on social media.

"I ask you to treat this with understanding and without condemnation," she began, baring her midriff in a tiny red top.

"I am pregnant. I accept congratulations and, for those who have wanted to have a child for a long time but are unable to, I am ready to offer you the positions of 'godparents' for the iPhone 12 PRO and MacBook Pro."

"You are very, very important to me. And yes, all this happened in one month of dating."

She does not appear to have plans to share her new technological toys with her husband, saying: "I am a professional trainer and an athlete.

"It will be difficult for me, alone, with a child. With the iPhone 12PRO's godparents, it will be a little easier for me and my child.

"I am an adult girl and I know how to make decisions myself. My life is my rules."

Among the confused replies and offers she received in response, one fan bizarrely told Kulakova: "I can become your cousin for a Nokia 3310.

"An uncle for a pack of Lipton tea with thyme, a stepdaughter for a bar of laundry soap, a son of my mother's friend for a pack of Raffaello."

Later, the acrobat explained her motives to share the unusual post saying that she wanted to attract attention to problems of child adoption and 'mercenaries'. She also stressed she was not going "to sell" her future kid for modern gadgets.

"Of course, I don't want to give up my child, this will be our baby. We have a happy family, I love my husband and he loves me,"Kulakova said. 

"I just want to give other people an opportunity to feel like real parents. I offer them to spend time with my kid and to understand whether they like it or not. And after that they can adopt a kid from an orphanage," she added.

The athlete noted that her social media post had a hidden message about the supposedly mercantile approach of modern girls who are ready to do everything for money.

"This is a hidden message: many girls are selling their virginity in exchange for iPhones. Some things have lost their value, everything has become cheaper so that people are ready to do everything to receive an iPhone. I want to turn people's attention to two problems: orphanages and mercenariness of girls."