Surrogate Who Refused Biological Parents Request for Abortion Wins Legal Fight to Protect Baby With Heart Defect

A Texas judge has handed McKenna West, an Alaska nurse serving as a surrogate mother, a major legal win, ensuring her baby — who was diagnosed with a serious congenital heart defect — receives medical treatment the moment he’s born.

The New York Post reported on Wednesday, August 12, that the court order, granted on Tuesday, requires that West’s baby, whom she has named Gabriel, receive “medically indicated stabilizing and life-sustaining care” immediately upon birth, and it blocks anyone from removing him from the state of Texas.

The ruling clearly states “no person shall withhold, direct the withholding of, obstruct, or delay that care.”

The order comes after months of conflict and turmoil for West. As Globe previously reported, West, an Alaska nurse now living in Texas, learned at 20 weeks that the baby she was carrying had hypoplastic left heart syndrome, a congenital defect that leaves the left side of the heart underdeveloped.

West told Live Action News in July that the diagnosis came without warning, as earlier scans had appeared completely normal. “There was no blood flow through the left side of the heart,” she recalled. “It was completely unexpected. Everything had been going great.”

West alleged the intended parents, later identified in court filings as Nausheen Gilkar and Omar Ahmed of California, demanded she terminate the pregnancy. She declined, citing survival rates for children who receive treatment and offering to arrange care in Texas herself.

According to court documents obtained by the New York Post, the couple pushed to schedule an abortion anyway, first in April, then again in May.

That refusal set off a legal dispute centered on one core question: who had the authority to decide where West would give birth and who would treat the baby medically. Since West lives in Alaska and the surrogacy agreement was originally signed there, she first brought that question to an Alaska court.

On July 27, the state of Alaska filed paperwork backing West, arguing she has a constitutional right to make her own medical decisions.

A day later, an Alaska court made a decision that didn’t fully side with anyone. It said a California court could decide where West gives birth and who her medical team is, but it stopped short of forcing her to move there.

West, whose due date is September 2, had already relocated to Texas on her own by that point, seeking legal recognition as Gabriel’s birth mother.

That’s when Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton‘s office stepped in, asking the Dallas County court to secure baby Gabriel’s treatment and block his removal from the state.

“The court has made the right decision in immediately acting to protect baby Gabriel’s life and ensure he receives the care he deserves,” Paxton said following the ruling, according to the New York Post.

“My office utilized every tool at our disposal to protect life, and we will not back down in continuing to support baby Gabriel’s well-being.”

He summed up the legal win with moving, yet powerful words: “Every child in our state deserves to be cared for and protected, and that’s exactly what I’ll fight for.”

Gilkar and Ahmed, who have not commented publicly, are due back in Dallas County court on August 25.