Gay Dads of Quadruplets Expecting Again

L E X I N G T O N, Ky., May 29, 2003 -- Last July, two Kentucky men became the first gay couple to have quadruplets with a surrogate mother — and now, they're expecting another new addition.

Michael Meehan and Thomas Dysarz of Lexington are expecting a fifth child, now being carried by the same woman who underwent in-vitro fertilization and served as surrogate mother for their quadruplets.

Brooke Verity, who gave birth to the couple's three sons and one daughter 10 months ago, learned Wednesday that she is carrying a single child, again through in-vitro fertilization.

Dysarz is the biological father of the child Verity is now carrying. Meehan is the biological father of the quadruplets.

"The original plan was to have one with Michael and one with myself," Dysarz said on ABCNEWS' Good Morning America. "So the first time we had four. We want to do it again, myself, as well," he said.

Verity, 24, became friends with the couple after meeting them at one of the two Planet Salons they own in Lexington. She already had three children of her own, and agreed to conceive a child with Meehan because she thought he and Dysarz would be good parents, she said.

Verity can see the children whenever she would like, but only visits about once a month. Her own children, a 6-year-old and 4-year-old twins, recently met the quadruplets — and fell in love with them.

"My children are very familiar with the situation and they know that those four babies are their brothers and sisters. I don't hide it," Verity said.

Postpartum Blues, Times Four

Now, the two dads juggle their schedules so that one of them is almost always with the babies. So far, they employ only one nanny to take care of their quads — sons Michael, Jacob and Tristan, and daughter Taylor.

The babies, who were born prematurely, have caught up developmentally and have no residual issues from being premature, Meehan said.

Verity, who is now eight weeks pregnant, said that if Dysarz wants another biological child after this pregnancy, she'll help out again. But she acknowledges that going through a pregnancy with quadruplets only to give them up was tough.

"When I was pregnant, it's so much easier to think I'm going to give them to Michael and Thomas, Verity said. "When you actually see them, everything changes when you see their faces," she said.

To accommodate the new addition, Meehan and Dysarz are moving their family from a three-bedroom house to a large home. The new place has six bedrooms and 6 ½ bathrooms, Meehan said.

The two dads say they'll tell their children who their mother is when they're old enough to ask.

"Brooke is already in our life," Dysarz said. "We consider her as Aunt Brooke and when they ask about their mom, I'll say 'Aunt Brooke is your mom' and they'll say 'great, I've known her all my life.' "