By CHRISTOPHER WEBER
Associated Press

LOS ANGELES (AP) - A federal judge in California has ruled that a twin son of a gay couple has been an American citizen since birth, handing a defeat to the U.S. government, which had only granted the status to his brother.

District Judge John F. Walter said Thursday that the State Department was wrong to deny citizenship to 2-year-old Ethan Dvash-Banks.

Andrew and Elad Dvash-Banks sued, saying the government failed to recognize their Canadian marriage, and one of the fraternal twins born there.

Each was conceived with sperm from a different father and born by the same surrogate mother.

The government had only granted citizenship to Aiden, who DNA tests showed was the biological son of Andrew, a U.S. citizen. Ethan was conceived from the sperm of Elad Dvash-Banks, an Israeli citizen.

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