The family attorney for biological parents Nausheen Gilkar and Omar Ahmed says baby Rumi’s condition remains “critical and complex” following his first major heart surgery.
Lee Budner, the attorney representing Gilkar and Ahmed, confirmed to TMZ that the newborn underwent the Norwood procedure this morning and is “now recuperating under the loving care of his parents and his heroic team of doctors, nurses, and medical staff,” Budner added in a statement that the family does not plan to share further health updates, saying the baby’s “condition remains critical and complex, and his family seeks privacy in caring for their son on his long road to recovery.”
The procedure comes after Gilkar and Ahmed confirmed in a court filing that they had chosen to move forward with the operation following consultations with doctors. Rumi was diagnosed during pregnancy with hypoplastic left heart syndrome, a rare congenital condition in which the left side of the heart doesn’t develop properly. Left untreated, it can be fatal, but doctors can intervene surgically after birth.
The Norwood procedure is the first of three surgeries typically required within a child’s first few years of life to manage the condition, according to information relayed by Budner. It’s designed to help the functioning side of the heart take over the job of pumping blood around the body. The court filing reportedly did not specify exactly when the surgery would take place, with the parents saying they would share the date privately with the court if requested.
Budner used the latest update to address the ongoing legal push for custody by the surrogate, McKenna West, claiming she “continues to assert baseless claims for custody of Rumi, in violation of multiple court orders out of both Alaska and California,” He said the family expects to “quickly” defeat those claims so they can focus on their son’s health.
West’s side of the dispute appeals to local laws in Texas, which tend to recognize the birth mother as the legal mother of a child. A hearing in the case is scheduled to take place later this month.
West, who lives in Alaska, traveled to Texas earlier this month, where abortion is banned in almost all circumstances, and gave birth there two weeks early. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton intervened with a court order that meant UT Southwestern Medical Center and Children’s Medical Center of Dallas must provide life-saving care to the baby, who he and West refer to as Gabriel.
However, the court also prevents West from making any medical decisions on behalf of the child, exercising any possession of the child, or representing herself as the child’s parent or guardian. West’s attorney Lincoln Davis Wilson said that West was not allowed to have any contact with the baby after the birth, but intends to pursue custody. “We are working on challenging those orders of parentage because we think that Texas law makes a woman who gives birth [to] a child, the mother of the child,” Wilson said.
Meanwhile, Budner told the outlet: “Our clients’ son was born yesterday morning and he is now in their physical custody while he receives expert medical care at a tertiary care center. Thankfully, McKenna West’s baseless attempt to interfere with his medical care has been soundly rejected by the courts.”
In the viral moment that sparked the nationwide controversy, West, a nurse and mother of two from Alaska, had signed a surrogacy agreement with Gilkar and Ahmed, a California couple, through Worldwide Surrogacy. During her 20-week scan, doctors diagnosed the unborn baby with hypoplastic left heart syndrome. According to legal filings from Ahmed and Gilkar’s lawyers, the couple “made the difficult decision to terminate the pregnancy” after consultations with medical providers and their own research, and West initially agreed and made the initial appointment. But West later refused, telling Live Action News: “I knew that I didn’t want to have to go through [an abortion]. I didn’t want for this baby – for his life to be cut short.” When she refused, West says Ahmed and Gilkar threatened to sue her for $250,000 for breaching the surrogacy agreement. West then cut off contact and fled to Texas, while courts in multiple states became involved in the jurisdictional battle over where she would give birth and who would control medical decisions.
West has referred to the baby as “Gabriel” throughout the dispute, though Gilkar and Ahmed maintain that isn’t his name and have named him Rumi in legal filings. A Texas court has granted the biological parents a restraining order giving them sole medical decision-making authority and barring West from making decisions about the baby’s care or interfering with their access to him.
A hearing in the custody case is scheduled to take place in Texas later this month.