An Alaska nurse who served as a surrogate has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene in a custody fight over a 4-week-old boy born in Dallas with a severe heart defect.
McKenna West filed an emergency appeal Wednesday, NBC 5 and The Dallas Morning News reported. She gave birth Aug. 12 after refusing a request from the intended parents, California residents Omar Ahmed and Nausheen Gilkar, to end the pregnancy. West calls the child Gabriel. The couple calls him Rumi.
The boy has hypoplastic left heart syndrome, a condition that limits blood flow and can be fatal without surgery, the AP reported. He had open-heart surgery soon after birth. West’s filing says she wants custody or conservatorship because she believes the couple will not provide life-saving care. She cites their request for an abortion around 23 weeks, NBC 5 reported. The filing also says she fears they may choose hospice in California.
Ahmed and Gilkar have not responded to the Supreme Court papers, NBC 5 said. They have argued West broke the surrogacy contract and obtained a restraining order that bars her from seeing or holding the baby. At an Aug. 25 Dallas hearing, Gilkar told the court, “He’s our child,” and called West unstable, the AP reported. Their attorney said in August the newborn was in critical condition.
A California court recognized the couple as the parents. A Texas court on Sept. 2 gave that judgment full credit and dismissed West from the Texas case, her filing says. Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office earlier sought an order requiring life-sustaining care at UT Southwestern and Children’s Medical Center Dallas.
Family-law attorney Marla Neufeld, who is not involved in the case, told NBC 5 the Supreme Court rarely grants emergency relief in custody disputes. Surrogacy is regulated by the states, not by a single federal law.
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