Why Elon Musk, Already Father of 13 Other Kids, Now Needs ‘Full Custody’ of Son With Ashley St. Clair
Things are getting messy between Elon Musk and one of his 14 children’s mothers. The Tesla founder is now seeking “full custody” of his 1-year-old son Romulus with Ashley St. Clair for an eyebrow-raising reason.
It all started when St. Clair tweeted on Jan. 10: “dark woke cause the other option is bootlicking feds + pedophiles + nerds.” Somebody asked her how she feels after “previously engag[ing] in blatant transphobia,” and she apologized.
“I feel immense guilt for my role. And even more guilt that things I have said in the past may have caused my son’s sister more pain,” she wrote, referring to Musk’s transgender daughter Vivian Wilson. “Idrk how to make amends for many of these things but I have been trying incredibly hard privately to learn + advocate for those within the trans community that I’ve hurt.”
She added that she wasn’t sure if her voice “would be helpful on this issue” as people might accuse her of just speaking out because she was “scorned” by Musk. “Even this reply will become right wing hysteria but yeah I am sorry. Let me know how I can help,” she added.
Her tweet received 5.9 million views. One person retweeted her post, adding, “Elon needs full custody. Coming out in support of trans grooming like this is insane.”
Musk responded to this tweet, writing, “I will be filing for full custody today, given her statements implying she might transition a one-year-old boy.” (Never mind that St. Clair didn’t say anything about her son or imply that she was going to have a gender reassignment surgery on her baby.)
The SpaceX founder has been open about his controversial opinions on the transgender community, often dead-naming his daughter and telling the Daily Wire in 2024 that Vivian was “killed by the woke-mind virus” and that he was “tricked” into signing paperwork consenting to Vivian’s medical gender reassignment. So it’s sad, but not surprising, that he is coming across so harsh against someone who is publicly apologizing to Vivian for causing “pain” based on past harmful comments. Because he would never admit how harmful his own comments have been.
In Feb. 2025, St. Clair revealed publicly that she had a baby with Musk in 2024. “I have not previously disclosed this to protect our child’s privacy and safety, but in recent days it has become clear that the tabloid media intends to do so, regardless of the harm it will cause,” she wrote in part on X. “I intend to allow our child to grow in a normal and safe environment. For that reason, I ask that the media honor our child’s privacy, and refrain from invasive reporting.”
In April, the Wall Street Journal reported that Musk offered St. Clair $15 million and $100,000 a month to keep quiet about their baby. The same month, Musk acknowledged St. Clair’s claim, writing on X, “I don’t know if the child is mine or not, but am not against finding out. No court order is needed. Despite not knowing for sure, I have given Ashley $2.5M and am sending her $500k/year.”
St. Clair replied to Musk at the time, claiming that he was offered the chance to do a paternity test before the baby was born, but he refused. “And you weren’t sending *me* money, you were sending support for your child that you thought was necessary … until you withdrew most of it to maintain control and punish me for ‘disobedience,’” the author wrote, claiming that Musk cut her child support payments by 60 percent. “But you’re really only punishing your son.”
Despite all this denial and drama surrounding the baby, Musk now wants full custody of the child, simply because he is mad about St. Clair’s opinion. *Sigh.* Maybe if he was more forgiving and open-minded, he could repair relationships with more than one of his children.
In addition to Romulus, Musk is also dad to son X AE A-XII, 5, daughter Exa Dark Sideræl, 4, and son Techno Mechanicus, 3, with Grimes; six children with ex-wife Justine Wilson; and four children with Shivon Zillis.
Before you go, check out these celebritieswho are parents of trans and non-binary kids.