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A surrogate who refuses to abort her unborn baby despite the wishes of his biological parents has scored an early legal victory in the case – just weeks before her due date.
McKenna West, an Alaskan nurse, is set to give birth to the fetus she has named Gabriel on Sept. 2 but during her pregnancy, he was diagnosed with the severe but treatable heart condition hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS).
His parents Nausheen Gilkar and Omar Ahmed, from California, called on West to seek an abortion – but she has traveled to Texas where she will be recognized as the birth mother under state law.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a petition that urges doctors to give Gabriel “life-saving” care when he is born and stop him from being taken out of the state.
A court granted the petition Tuesday and it states, “Upon the child’s live birth, medically indicated stabilizing and life-sustaining care shall be provided to the child pending further order of this Court.
“No person shall withhold, direct the withholding of, obstruct, or delay that care.
“Upon the child’s live birth and pending further order of this Court, no person shall: remove the child from the [hospital where he’s treated], [and] remove the child from the state of Texas.”
Lawyers for Gilker and Ahmed have not commented on West’s legal victory.
“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 judge’s order.
“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.
“Every child in our state deserves to be cared for and protected, and that’s exactly what I’ll fight for.”
Newborns diagnosed with HLHS require surgery almost immediately after birth in order to survive past their first week.
Babies who are operated on have a 75% chance of making it to 5 years old, and those who make it to their first birthday have a 90% chance of making it to 18, according to NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital.
West’s fetus was diagnosed with the condition in April, and it was a diagnosis that came out of the blue.
“I was 20 weeks,” she told Live Action News. “[The baby’s parents] were on a FaceTime call after the ultrasound.
“The doctor came in and told us there was something really wrong with the baby’s heart.
“There was no blood flow through the left side of the heart.
She said she wasn’t qualified to give a diagnosis, and I needed to be referred to an MFM [maternal-fetal medicine doctor] for another ultrasound.
“So we were all really upset. It was completely unexpected. Everything had been going great. There had been no signs of anything being wrong. All genetic testing was normal.”
But there was a clause in the surrogacy contract that allowed terminations if there was an “anomaly” during the pregnancy – and feared the baby’s biological parents would proceed with the abortion.
“I was feeling pretty confident that they were going to choose termination, and how could I possibly live with myself going through that?” she said.
West, a single mom of two, refused to have an abortion in Alaska and is being sued by Gilkar and Ahmed.
They want her to get the termination in their home state of California.
But West is only willing to go to California if the baby’s biological parents will allow him to get treatment, according to the lawsuit seen by Live Action News.
Ahmed and Gilkar are set to appear in a Dallas County court on Aug. 25.
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