Lincoln Wilson, an attorney for surrogate McKenna West, told The Post she’s planning a full-throttle court battle to become the legal parent of baby “Gabriel,” who was born in the Dallas area Wednesday.
“She is seeking parentage of the child because she gave birth in Texas, and in Texas, if you give birth to a child, it’s your child,” Wilson said.
Wilson said the reason the baby’s LA-based biological parents, Nausheen Gilkar and Omar Ahmed, currently have custody is because of a California order he considers “void.”
“We think that once that California judgment is removed … that basically she is the mother under Texas law,” Wilson said.
“We are taking that challenge up through the California courts, and we’ll take it up to the US Supreme Court if we have to.”
The biological parents had asked that their unborn child be aborted after he was diagnosed with a severe but treatable heart condition earlier this year.
The surrogacy contract between West, a nurse from Alaska, and the biological parents contained a clause that allowed terminations if there was an “anomaly” during the pregnancy.
But after the couple asked West to abort the fetus, she refused and instead traveled to Texas, where she would be recognized as the birth mother under state law.
Wilson said Thursday surrogacy contracts like the one in West’s case are common — but likened them to a “hitman contract.”
“These forced abortion clauses that demand that women have to be required to abort a child at the late term are quite common in surrogacy contracts,” he said.
“There’s some contracts the law doesn’t enforce. Like the law doesn’t enforce a hitman contract,” he said.
“This is basically a hitman contract, and we think that even if you accept a liberal view of abortion rights, the right to get an abortion also entails the right to not get an abortion.”
West currently has no legal authority over the baby to whom she gave birth, under a temporary restraining order filed by the couple.
The restraining order reportedly strips her of any decision-making about the infant’s care, including on medical decisions, and bars her from representing herself as a parent.
Wilson said the baby will soon undergo a series of heart surgeries at a hospital with an excellent track record.
“Within a few days, the first of three surgeries will be performed. It’s called the Norwood procedure,” Wilson said.
“But thankfully, we are at a hospital that has a 100% success rate in giving that procedure, so we know that she and well, at this point, baby Gabriel are in good hands.”
The fierce legal battle first began in April after the unborn child was diagnosed with the severe heart condition, hypoplastic left heart syndrome, at 20 weeks.
West, who named the baby Gabriel, was not allowed to see or hold the baby due to the court order.
Ahmed and Gilkar have reportedly picked a different name for the boy.
Kyra Breslin and Natalie O'Neill
https://nypost.com/2026/08/13/us-news/surrogate-mckenna-west-vows-legal-fight-against-bio-parents-she-is-the-mother/
The following quote may be attributed to Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Counsel and Director of the Center for Life Erik Baptist regarding a Texas court order requiring that a baby born Wednesday with a serious, but treatable, heart condition receives the surgery necessary to save his life. In the case, Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys represent McKenna West, an Alaska nurse and surrogate mother, who fought to give the baby she carried, known as Baby Gabriel, the chance at the life he deserves since the commissioning couple has refused to commit to life-saving treatment:
ReplyDelete“It’s an honor and privilege to represent McKenna in her courageous stand for Baby Gabriel’s life. Every life matters. No woman should be forced to kill the baby she is carrying, and every child deserves a chance at life. We are thrilled that the court’s order calls for Baby Gabriel to receive the surgery necessary to save his life. And we are so grateful for Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s heroic, invaluable efforts to preserve this precious child’s life.”
https://adflegal.org/press-release/adf-attorneys-represent-surrogate-mother-fighting-to-give-baby-chance-to-live/
A baby at the center of a high-profile surrogacy dispute is in critical condition after undergoing complex heart surgery, according to court documents.
ReplyDeleteThe newborn, known as Gabriel to surrogate McKenna West and Rumi to his biological parents, was diagnosed before birth with hypoplastic left heart syndrome, a serious congenital heart defect.
West, an Alaska nurse who was serving as a surrogate for California couple Nausheen Gilkar and Omar Ahmed, traveled to Texas during her pregnancy after she said the couple wanted her to terminate the pregnancy following the diagnosis.
The baby was born in Dallas on Aug. 12 and has remained under medical care in Texas.
Baby's condition declines after surgery
Gilkar and Ahmed said the newborn recently underwent a Norwood procedure, a complex open-heart operation commonly performed as part of treatment for hypoplastic left heart syndrome, according to court documents obtained by TMZ.
The parents said in the filing that “serious medical developments” had arisen and that the child was in critical condition and being closely monitored at a hospital. They also alleged the baby was experiencing potential complications from the Norwood procedure and that his condition declined significantly, requiring doctors to reintubate him.
The court documents do not provide additional details about the specific complications or the baby's current prognosis.
The parents' statements about the baby's condition have not been independently confirmed by USA TODAY Network...
West traveled from Alaska to Texas during the pregnancy after she refused to terminate the pregnancy and sought legal protection and access to medical care for the baby, according to her attorneys.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton intervened in the case before the baby's birth, and a Dallas County judge issued an emergency order requiring hospitals to provide medically necessary care and preventing the baby from being removed from Texas while the case proceeded.
After the baby's birth, Gilkar and Ahmed obtained a temporary restraining order that awarded them custody, according to the Texas Tribune.
The biological parents are now asking a court to delay a scheduled hearing on that order because of the baby's medical condition, according to the latest court filing...
In West's case, the biological parents say the surrogacy agreement included an abortion clause and that they and West initially agreed to terminate the pregnancy after the baby was diagnosed with hypoplastic left heart syndrome. West later changed her mind and refused to have the abortion, according to court filings. West disputes the parents' characterization of the agreement and is challenging the enforceability of the abortion provision.
Texas law also requires an abortion to be performed with the pregnant woman's voluntary and informed consent. The statute does not provide an exception allowing another person — including an intended parent in a surrogacy arrangement — to consent to an abortion on the surrogate's behalf.
That does not necessarily mean refusing an abortion has no legal consequences under a surrogacy contract. Legal experts told The Texas Tribune that an abortion clause could potentially create financial or contractual consequences if a surrogate does not follow the agreement.
Those could include disputes over compensation or pregnancy-related expenses, or litigation over whether the contract was breached. But experts also said courts have rarely been asked to enforce financial penalties when a surrogate refuses an intended parent's request for an abortion.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/state/texas/2026/08/25/mckenna-west-surrogacy-baby-gabriel-rumi-texas-abortion/91458846007/