Surrogate Who Refused Abortion Reveals ‘Deep Pain and Sorrow’ in Letters Filed in Court

New letters from surrogate McKenna West reveal how she struggled with the decision after baby Gabriel‘s intended parents asked her to terminate the pregnancy.

West told Worldwide Surrogacy on May 4, 2026, that she had decided not to go through with the planned termination. “After careful thought, I have decided that I cannot terminate this pregnancy. This baby is in my body, and I care for him very much,” she wrote in a letter included in court documents, TMZ reported on Friday, August 14.

West’s correspondence details the emotional struggle she says she endured before making that decision. According to the outlet, she spent roughly two weeks grappling with whether she could go through with the procedure before ultimately deciding against it. After canceling, West wrote that her soul “finally felt a peace.”

As Globe previously reported, the request to terminate the pregnancy came after Gabriel was diagnosed at 20 weeks with hypoplastic left heart syndrome, a serious congenital heart defect in which the left side of the heart is severely underdeveloped. Gabriel’s intended parents, Nausheen Gilkar and Omar Ahmed, asked West to end the pregnancy under an “anomaly” provision in their surrogacy agreement.

After West refused, Gilkar and Ahmed sought answers about what she intended to do next. The day after her May 4 letter, the couple contacted the surrogacy center requesting to be kept informed. “We would like an update immediately. We have every right to know in REAL TIME what McKenna is planning on doing tomorrow,” they wrote, according to the documents obtained by TMZ.

West further explained her reasoning in correspondence dated May 7, saying she felt “deep pain and sorrow” over the requested termination. She wrote that Gabriel’s movements during the pregnancy strengthened her feelings about continuing to carry him, describing the baby as “life within” her, the outlet reported.

“From the work I do as a mother, to the work I do as a registered nurse, I feel called to defend, care for, and protect the vulnerable,” she wrote, per the report. West added that terminating the pregnancy “truly goes against everything I do in my life, from my motherhood to my career; protecting life, not ending it.”

The disagreement over the pregnancy has since turned into a multistate legal battle over Gabriel’s parentage. West is prepared to take her fight over Gabriel’s parentage all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court if necessary.