Lesbian couple welcomes babies, thanks to gay donor friends

— -- A lesbian couple in Florida has welcomed a son and a daughter after the women's gay friends agreed to be their donors.

Mariely Martinez, 34, and her wife, Carla Melendez, 32, gave birth to children one month apart, thanks to their friends Juny Roman, 33, and Alex Torres, 30, who are also married.

At first, Melendez said, she and Martinez were researching ways to find donors online.

"We wanted to have the dads to be part of the babies' lives," Melendez told ABC News. "We knew at that at some point the babies were going to ask us, 'Who's my dad? What does he look like?' With a sperm bank, you don't have that."

Melendez and Martinez said they met Torres about 10 years ago and later reconnected with him and Roman after moving to Sanford, Florida.

Melendez said she and Martinez approached their friends about fathering the two children the couple wanted to have.

"At the beginning, it was going to be Alex only -- the donor to both babies," Melendez said.

But after the couple met Roman, "Mariely knew she wanted him to be a dad. She loved his personality, everything about him," Melendez added.

On July 23, Martinez gave birth to a boy named Matteo and on Aug. 22, Melendez welcomed a daughter, Marla. Roman is the father of Matteo and Torres is the father of Marla.

"For my kids, they are going to have a lot of love," Roman told ABC News. "We want to tell the world it's OK. If you want to have a family, you can have it. I always had this feeling I was going to be a dad."

But he said it wasn't always clear how his dream of fatherhood would become a reality.

"I was at a point in my life where I said, 'There's no opportunity,'" Roman added. "[Melendez and Martinez] have given us the opportunity to be part of this journey. We are a new, modern family."

Melendez agreed.

"I think it's good to let the world know that love is the more important thing in this world and it doesn't matter where it comes from," she said.

Dr. Pedro Cruz-Torres was the obstetrician who delivered both babies for Martinez and Melendez.

“Both of them did very well,” Cruz-Torres told ABC News. “It was very unique to have all the parties involved."

The doctor added that having two patients who were married and pregnant at the same time was also a unique situation for him.

"It was very amazing to see the different stages of their pregnancies,” he added.

Melendez and Martinez have full custody of the children and will be raising them with involvement and love from Torres and Roman, the couples said.