A newborn with a severe heart defect is at the center of a legal battle between a California couple and a surrogate who flew from Alaska to Texas to give birth in a case that has drawn the attention of anti-abortion groups and GOP leaders.
McKenna West, the surrogate, gave birth Wednesday to a boy with hypoplastic left heart syndrome, a life-threatening heart condition. West, who is a nurse, said the couple had wanted to end the pregnancy at 20 weeks, after consulting with doctors about the diagnosis.
The case quickly garnered national attention after Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton intervened and a judge in Dallas ordered two hospitals to ensure they provide life-sustaining care and that the baby remain in Texas until at least a hearing in late August.
The Los Angeles-based couple, Omar Ahmed and Nausheen Gilkar, say West violated the surrogacy contract, and they obtained a restraining order that prevented West from seeing or holding the child after he was born, according to an attorney for the surrogate.
Ahmed and Gilkar were in Dallas, Texas, with the newborn as he receives medical care, according to the couple’s attorney. West and her supporters have called the child Gabriel, but in court filings, the couple has called the boy Rumi.
Here’s what to know about the case and surrogacy law in the U.S.
California couple says surrogate broke their contract
West entered an agreement with the couple through Worldwide Surrogacy Specialists, LLC in August 2025. In court documents, the couple argues that West broke a surrogacy contract and that a California court determined she has no rights to legal or physical custody of the child.
West’s lawyers have alleged the couple spent weeks pressuring West to seek an abortion after learning of the diagnosis. With legal support from the conservative Christian organization Alliance Defending Freedom, West petitioned a Dallas court to give her custody over the child two days before she gave birth.
According to court documents in Alaska, the couple claimed West agreed with the decision to end the pregnancy after the diagnosis but then changed her mind and cut off contact.
“After heartbreaking consultations with medical providers and their own research about the suffering and quality of life HLHS babies endure, A.B. and C.D. (birth parents) made the difficult decision to terminate the pregnancy,” a filing from the parents’ attorneys reads. “It is undisputed that West initially agreed and that she herself made the initial appointment.”
Other court documents show the couple at one point chose to have West deliver in California and their child begin lifelong treatment from there.
“West is harming Rumi by relocating to Texas, requiring him to be born in Texas, away from his parents and the specialized cardiac team in Los Angeles that will provide his lifelong care,” the court filing states. “Her actions are forcing Rumi to begin treatment (including critical heart surgery) in one state and be transferred to another.”
Republican officials have rallied in support of the surrogate
Live Action, an anti-abortion group based in Arlington, Virginia, paid for West and her two children to fly to Texas, which bans abortion, to seek medical care, according to Noah Brandt, a spokesperson for the group.
Days before West gave birth, Paxton said his office was intervening in the case to “protect baby Gabriel’s life” by notifying UT Southwestern Medical Center and Children’s Medical Center of Dallas of legal obligations to provide life-saving care, and accused Gilkar and Ahmed of refusing to consent to life-saving surgery for the heart issue.
The couple has denied those claims and their attorney, Lee Budner, accused Paxton of turning a family tragedy into “political theater.”
The couple’s “worst fear,” Ahmed wrote in court filings, was that West “may try to keep our child from us after she gives birth to him.”
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Surrogacy law across the US is vague and varies by state
Surrogacy isn’t regulated on a federal level and each state has its own laws, which can leave room for gaps in interpretation, experts say.
Maya Shulman, a California attorney and professor who has worked on surrogacy cases for more than 15 years, said she rarely sees cases like this. She emphasized the importance of contracts in surrogacy agreements, adding that many have ironclad details about termination and thorough details about what’s entailed.
A surrogate is not a parent, Shulman said, and in this case, the baby’s health had to be considered.
“You need to think about the quality of life for the baby,” Shulman said in reference to the heart defect.
In California where she practices, a court would likely honor the surrogacy contract, Shulman said, recognizing the couple as the parents with custody of the child.
The baby’s heart defect requires multiple surgeries
Hypoplastic left heart syndrome is a condition where one side of the heart is underdeveloped and prevents normal blood flow. If untreated, the condition causes severe symptoms such as trouble breathing, skin rashes, weak pulse and ashen or bluish skin.
The condition requires a set of three surgeries. The initial surgery, the Norwood procedure, is usually done within days or weeks of birth, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Only about 925 babies in the U.S. are born with HLHS each year, according to the CDC.
Without treatment, children affected by the heart defect can die within days or weeks. Surgical repairs are not necessarily cures, and additional surgeries or heart transplants may be needed, according to the CDC. ___ Associated Press reporter Becky Bohrer in Juneau, Alaska, contributed to this report.
