Surrogate’s Lawyer Vows Supreme Court Fight After Intended Parents Gain Custody of Newborn With Heart Defect

McKenna West, a gestational surrogate who delivered a son in Texas on Aug. 12, is challenging a California parentage judgment after the child—prenatally diagnosed with hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS)—came into the custody of the embryo’s intended parents, Nausheen Gilkar and Omar Ahmed.

What Happened

West gave birth in Texas to a baby boy diagnosed in utero with HLHS, a serious congenital condition that affects the left side of the heart. The embryo she carried belonged to Gilkar and Ahmed, a California couple who have been with the newborn while he receives specialized cardiac care.

Court Orders and Custody

Following the birth, a Texas temporary restraining order (TRO) restricted West from making medical decisions for the infant, taking possession of him, interfering with the intended parents’ access, or representing herself as his parent, guardian or medical decision-maker. That same TRO authorizes Gilkar and Ahmed to receive the child’s protected medical information and to act as his medical decision-makers, subject to a separate emergency order governing the baby’s care.

Legal Conflict Over Parentage

West’s attorney, Lincoln Davis Wilson, is contesting a California trial-court judgment that recognizes Gilkar and Ahmed as the child’s parents. Wilson has said his client will appeal the matter through the courts — "We’ll take it up to the U.S. Supreme Court if we have to," he told the New York Post — and argues that Texas law, which traditionally presumes the woman who gives birth is the mother absent a Texas-validated gestational agreement or an out-of-state judgment recognized by Texas, should control because West delivered the baby in Texas.

Dispute Over Prenatal Decisions

The conflict intensified after a roughly 20-week prenatal diagnosis of HLHS. West says the intended parents initially wanted her to terminate the pregnancy and that she refused; Gilkar and Ahmed dispute parts of that account, saying that they and West initially agreed to a termination after medical consultations and that West made the first appointment before changing her mind, according to Associated Press–reported court filings.

State Intervention and Medical Care

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office intervened in the case, filing that medically indicated, life-sustaining treatment should be protected and expressing concern—based in part on alleged facts about the intended parents' intentions—that surgery or other treatment might be refused or withheld. Gilkar and Ahmed have denied any intention to withhold care. A Dallas court ordered the newborn to receive medically indicated stabilizing and life-sustaining treatment and placed restrictions on his discharge, removal or transfer while the litigation proceeds.

Positions and Next Steps

Gilkar and Ahmed’s attorney, Lee Budner, said the couple is focused on the baby’s medical needs and that the newborn is in their physical custody receiving expert care at a tertiary center. West has reportedly been barred from seeing or holding the infant under current court orders; supporters have referred to the child as Gabriel while the intended parents have used the name Rumi in filings.

The TRO requires West to appear in person before the 301st Judicial District Court in Dallas County on Aug. 25, at which the court may decide whether the existing restrictions should become a temporary injunction pending the broader litigation. West’s legal team continues to challenge the California parentage ruling and argues any out-of-state judgment should not override Texas law.

Key sources: New York Post, Texas Tribune, Associated Press, and PEOPLE.