Surrogate and Biological Parents Clash Over Custody After Abortion Dispute
A baby boy at the center of a multistate surrogacy dispute was born Wednesday in Dallas, and the fight over his care and custody has now shifted from a courtroom battle over medical treatment to one over parental rights.
The baby, identified in court filings and reporting as Gabriel, was carried by McKenna West, a nurse from Alaska, for a California couple, Nausheen Gilkar and Omar Ahmed. At around 20 weeks into the pregnancy, doctors diagnosed the baby with hypoplastic left heart syndrome, a serious congenital condition in which the left side of the heart is underdeveloped and that typically requires multiple surgeries to treat.
Dueling Accounts of What Happened After the Diagnosis
West alleges that after the diagnosis, Gilkar and Ahmed invoked an "abortion clause" in their surrogacy agreement and asked her to terminate the pregnancy, an allegation detailed in a lawsuit she filed in Alaska.
Gilkar and Ahmed have disputed that characterization in court filings, denying they intended to refuse surgery for the baby once he was born. They said medical professionals had told them it was unclear whether the baby would be a candidate for open-heart surgery.
Texas Officials Step In
The dispute drew the involvement of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, whose office sent letters on Aug. 10 to UT Southwestern Medical Center and Children's Medical Center of Dallas, stating the hospitals were legally obligated to provide the baby with care. Paxton's letter said Gilkar and Ahmed might seek to refuse consent to surgery or move the child to California, where treatment could potentially be withheld. A Texas district court sided with the state on Aug. 11, ordering the hospitals to provide the baby with life-sustaining medical care in Texas.
Gov. Greg Abbott also weighed in, saying Texas law protects children born in the state and that the Department of Family and Protective Services would continue monitoring the case.
Custody Now in Dispute
The baby was born Wednesday, and the biological parents obtained a temporary restraining order against West after she attempted to assert parental rights. Gilkar and Ahmed's attorney, Lee Budner, said in a statement that their son is now in their physical custody and receiving care at a specialty medical center.
West's attorney, Lincoln Davis Wilson, has argued that Texas family law recognizes whoever gives birth in the state as the child's legal mother and that West should therefore have a role in his custody. A California trial court had already ruled that Gilkar and Ahmed are the child's legal parents, and a California appellate court rejected West's request to halt that ruling from taking effect.
Wilson described West's decision to travel to Texas amid the dispute as one that carried personal risk to her.
What Comes Next
The case now involves courts and officials in three states: Texas, where the baby was born, Alaska, where West is from, and California, where Gilkar and Ahmed live and where parentage was already established. It remains unclear whether the baby has undergone heart surgery, with another court hearing scheduled for Aug. 25.
Worldwide Surrogacy Specialists, the agency that connected West with the couple, said in a statement that it supports the rights of both surrogates and intended parents, without commenting further on the specifics of the dispute.
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