A gay couple had twins via surrogate but were almost forced to raise them separately. The dads sued to keep their family together — and won.

https://www.msn.com/en-in/lifestyle/relationships/a-gay-couple-had-twins-via-surrogate-but-were-almost-forced-to-raise-them-separately-the-dads-sued-to-keep-their-family-together-and-won/ar-AA1eXtTU?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=32b8c98ffda74ac68f1e059c572df615&ei=15

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• Andrew and Elad Dvash-Banks had twins via surrogate. They were conceived using the sperm of each man.
• US immigration refused to recognize the biological son of Israeli-born Elad as an American citizen.

When Andrew and Elad Dvash-Banks showed up at the US consulate in Toronto, they thought getting American passports for their newborn fraternal twins would be relatively straightforward.

The men had decided to move the family to Los Angeles, Andrew's home city. They wanted the boys, who were born via surrogate, to live closer to their relatives, including Andrew's parents and siblings.

Andrew, who has dual American-Canadian citizenship, had fathered one of the twins, Aiden, and Israel-born Elad had fathered the other, Ethan. But they ran into a roadblock: Because Ethan wasn't biologically related to an American citizen, he couldn't get a US passport.

The immigration-rights group Immigration Equality, which supported the legal battle for Ethan to become a US citizen, said Ethan was discriminated against because he and Andrew weren't biologically related — but the rule didn't apply to heterosexual couples who'd adopted their kids or conceived them in a similar way.

It took three years for the courts to rule in their favor, and the decision means that other LGBTQ+ parents won't be subject to the same treatment.

A psychologist who studies twins said it would be detrimental to the brothers if they had to live apart

"We had to stand up for our beliefs and principles," Andrew told Insider.

The landmark case is the topic of a new book, "Gay Fathers, Twin Sons: The Citizenship Case That Captured the World." The book, written by the psychologist Nancy Segal, the director and founder of the Twin Studies Center at California State University, Fullerton, details the family's determination to win equal rights for their sons.

"The story tugs at the heartstrings," Segal told Insider. "In the worst-case scenario, Andrew and Elad would have been forced to separate their sons — siblings born just four minutes apart. They'd bonded as twins but would have grown up more like cousins than brothers," she said.

Andrew and Elad, who got married in Toronto in 2011 — four years before gay marriage was legalized in the US — discussed becoming parents soon after they met while studying at the University of Tel Aviv.

Andrew said they were thrilled when their surrogate became pregnant with twins. But it wasn't by design that each of them fathered one of the kids. "Those two embryos were just the most healthy and viable," he said.

He said only they, the surrogate, and their IVF specialist knew which twin was which in terms of genetics. "It was a private thing. We didn't even tell my mother because she was grandmother to both," he added.

But 42-year-old Andrew and his husband were told by staff at the consulate they needed to prove which twin was biologically theirs. They said that only one of their sons — the blood relation to Andrew — would be granted a US passport.

"I said I wasn't going to tell them who was genetically connected to Elad or me because it was none of their damn business," Andrew said.

"They said, 'Well, it's important to us, and if you withhold that information, both of them will be denied citizenship,'" he went on.

He said that Elad argued that the same requirements wouldn't be expected of a straight couple. "Would the same thing apply if I was an Israeli mom whose American husband was infertile, so we'd used a sperm donor?'" Andrew said.

Ethan was initially admitted to the US on a temporary tourist visa

The immigration officer said he had the "discretion" to make the decision, Andrew said.

"It was very emotional and humiliating," Andrew told Insider. He said both their names were on the birth certificates as the boys' parents, but they were forced to have DNA tests.

As a result, Andrew and Aidan were allowed to cross the border as US citizens. Elad, now 38, was admitted because he had a green card by marriage. Meanwhile, Ethan was allowed to "visit" the country on a temporary tourist visa.

"We decided that it would be better to fight from the US," Andrew said.

Nevertheless, they lived in constant fear that Ethan might be deported. "They were concerned that he would be taken away by officers from ICE at any moment," said Segal, who interviewed the dads extensively for her book.

In 2018, their case was taken up by Immigration Equality, which filed a lawsuit against the US State Department. A federal judge decided in the fathers' favor in 2019, but that ruling was overturned on appeal. The State Department insisted that a married US citizen required a biological connection to a child in order to pass on birthright citizenship.

In the meantime, Ethan's legal status within the US became more secure after lawyers got a permanent extension of his entry visa. "But he still didn't have the same citizenship rights as Aiden," Andrew said.

In February 2021, a California judge sided with the dads, and the government lost a second appeal. Ethan finally got his American passport. Three months later, the requirement for a biological connection to a parent for transnational citizenship was eliminated.

The Dvash-Banks case set a precedent so other transnational LGBTQ+ parents can live in the US

"We celebrated because we felt we'd won a victory for not only ourselves but other LGBTQ+ people who are parents or want to become parents in the future, " Andrew said. The couple's case attracted worldwide publicity.

The twins, now 6 years old, are living happily with their dads in LA. "They blazed a trail," Andrew said.

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