McKenna West is denying claims that she is pursuing child support from the biological parents of the baby she carried and refused to abort.
West, the surrogate who made national headlines after declining a termination request from Nausheen Gilkar and Omar Ahmed over their son’s heart defect, is pushing back against the California couple’s allegations in new court filings. Her legal team says the child support claim stems from a document that was never officially filed and, according to her lawyer, does not mention child support at all.
Gilkar and Ahmed, who hired West to carry the child they call ‘Rumi,’ allege in their own filing that West is seeking child support and that her lawyer has asked them to cover her legal fees. They note that West has not accused them of being unfit parents. The couple maintains they want their son and intend to care for him, including navigating his health issues.
West’s team characterizes the disputed document as a “never-filed, mistakenly circulated, and quickly retracted initial draft.” Her lawyer insists that even that draft makes no mention of child support. Instead, West says she is only asking the court for temporary orders to ensure the baby receives what her team describes as “the life-sustaining care he needs.”
In their filing, Gilkar and Ahmed also questioned why West would be better placed to raise Rumi. They pointed out that she is unwed, unemployed, and a mother of two young children with no health insurance, details they claim she has used to promote an online fundraiser that has drawn thousands of donations since it launched.
West flew to Texas to give birth after Gilkar and Ahmed reportedly asked her to terminate the pregnancy once the baby was diagnosed with a heart defect, a request they made under the terms of their surrogacy contract. West declined, and has since said she wants to raise the child herself.
In the viral moment that sparked the national controversy, West refused the couple’s abortion request and fled from California to Texas, where she gave birth against the biological parents’ wishes. The case quickly became a flashpoint in debates over surrogacy rights, abortion access, and maternal authority, with both sides drawing intense public attention and support from opposing advocacy groups. Baby Gabriel, as West calls him, or Rumi, as the biological parents call him, was born in Dallas and immediately became the subject of a multistate custody battle that has now spilled into dueling court filings and competing fundraising campaigns.
With both sides now formally contesting each other’s version of events in court, and neither side backing down on their intentions toward the child, the case looks set to continue playing out in the legal system for some time yet.