A 28-year-old surrogate from Alaska named McKenna West gave birth to a baby boy with hypoplastic left heart syndrome in Dallas on Wednesday, August 12. The baby was diagnosed with the heart condition at around 20 weeks of pregnancy. The biological parents from Los Angeles (Nausheen Gilkar and Omar Ahmed) requested she have an abortion, which she refused. West went to Texas to give birth where she would be recognized as the birth mother under state law. She’s now seeking custody and has launched a fundraiser that raised over $66,000. The biological parents now have custody and a court has sided with them. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton intervened to protect the baby’s life. There’s a court hearing scheduled for August 25.
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A 28-year-old Alaska nurse has found herself at the center of a sprawling legal and financial crisis after refusing her clients’ demand to terminate a pregnancy when the baby was diagnosed with a serious heart condition, and now she’s scrambling to cover her mounting costs with an online fundraiser.
McKenna West agreed to be a gestational surrogate for Los Angeles couple Nausheen Gilkar and Omar Ahmed. At around 20 weeks of pregnancy, doctors discovered the baby had hypoplastic left heart syndrome, a life-threatening but treatable congenital condition in which the left side of the heart does not develop fully. The couple invoked a clause in their surrogacy agreement that allowed them to seek an abortion in cases of fetal abnormality and requested that West terminate the pregnancy. West initially agreed but later changed her mind, prompting her to flee Alaska for Texas, a state where abortion is banned, to ensure the baby would receive the specialized care he needed after birth.
She gave birth to the boy on August 12 in a Dallas hospital, three weeks earlier than her September 2 due date. While West has named the baby Gabriel, the biological parents say his legal name is Rumi. Within 24 hours of his birth, a court placed the baby in the biological parents’ custody and barred West from any contact with him or involvement in medical decisions.
The financial fallout has been devastating for West. Her attorney, Lincoln Wilson, alleges that the biological parents have stopped all payments to her since she refused to have an abortion. According to a fundraiser created on GiveSendGo by a friend identified only as Ellen, West has “lost the payments she was relying on and is now facing the possibility of being sued for all money paid to her or on her behalf since the beginning of her surrogacy journey.” The fundraiser had raised more than $66,000 by Friday.
“She has also relocated away from home and is taking time off work while continuing to cover expenses back home,” the fundraiser states. West, who works as a nurse in Anchorage, was already set to run out of paid time off before her original due date, creating a compounding financial strain.
Wilson claimed that the parents have provided West nothing since demanding the abortion. He alleged in a phone interview that the biological parents’ legal team even warned West she could face a $250,000 fine if she didn’t terminate the pregnancy. “They said when they demanded an abortion, ‘Hey, can we just pay you half for the next month since you’re gonna be aborting this child?'” Wilson said.
The parents’ attorney, Lee Budner, has characterized West’s actions as baseless interference with the child’s medical care. “Right now, our clients are continuing to place their baby’s health and well-being first, following the advice of the baby’s medical team, as they always have and just as any loving parent would,” Budner said. He accused West and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who intervened to protect the baby’s life, of transforming a family tragedy into “political theater.”
West has vowed to wage a full-throttle legal battle for custody despite legal experts saying she has virtually no legal claim to the child. Her lawyer said his team is prepared to take the custody fight all the way to the Supreme Court if necessary, arguing that Texas law recognizes the woman who gives birth as the mother. West is also seeking to recover losses from the disputed surrogacy agreement, which Wilson said amounts to “in excess of tens of thousands of dollars.”
The case has drawn support from anti-abortion groups and Republican officials, particularly Paxton, who sent letters to two Dallas hospitals notifying them of their legal obligations to provide the baby with life-saving care. A hearing in Dallas County Court is scheduled for August 25 to address the ongoing dispute.
In a previous interview with anti-abortion organization Live Action, West had explained why she decided to become a surrogate in the first place. “I thought it would be a really awesome way to make extra income for my family, not have to take extra time away from my kids, and get to provide a family the amazing gift of having a child,” she said. “I felt it would be a rewarding route to take.”
But the arrangement has devolved into a legal and financial nightmare spanning three states. Wilson insisted that West “is not in this for the money,” yet the financial pressures are mounting as she fights for custody while facing potential legal action from the biological parents and depleting her own resources to cover living expenses in Texas and costs back home in Alaska.