The Associated Press

LEXINGTON - Michael Meehan and his male domestic partner, Thomas Dysarz, celebrated the baptism of their 3-month-old quadruplets Saturday in the Roman Catholic Church, despite the doctrine that homosexual acts are sinful.

The Rev. Paul Prabell blessed the men as he would any other parents and baptized their daughter and three sons at Lexington's Cathedral of Christ the King.

"This is what Christ would do," said Mr. Meehan, the quadruplets' biological father, after the ceremony. "He blessed people who were cast out of the church. (The babies) are God's children. That's how the church should view it."

The ceremony, attended by about 30 friends and relatives, marked the children's birth as Christians.

The four babies were conceived through an in-vitro fertilization that paired a surrogate mother's eggs with the sperm of Mr. Meehan, a Lexington lawyer, who plans to raise the children with Mr. Dysarz.

The quadruplets' July 26 birth via surrogate mother to gay partners is thought to be unprecedented. It drew worldwide attention.

Father Prabell said Saturday that he doesn't recall ever baptizing a child of an openly gay parent. Baptizing quadruplets was also a first for him.

Father Prabell said no one had objected to the christening, although he expects that "some people would feel that the christening would be an endorsement of homosexuality and surrogate parenting."