Surrogate McKenna West asks US Supreme Court to halt custody ruling for California couple

September 11, 2026 at 10:55 PM2 min

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Surrogate McKenna West filed an emergency appeal asking the US Supreme Court to halt a ruling granting parental rights to California couple Omar Ahmed and Nausheen Gilkar. West gave birth to the boy in Texas last month after refusing the couple's request to abort the pregnancy over a severe heart defect. The dispute centers on custody and the child's medical care.

Key Facts

McKenna West filed an emergency appeal to the US Supreme Court to halt a ruling granting parental rights to Omar Ahmed and Nausheen Gilkar.
The baby was born last month with hypoplastic left heart syndrome, a defect where the left side of the heart cannot pump enough blood.
West travelled to Texas, where nearly all abortions are illegal, after the couple asked her to abort the pregnancy at 20 weeks.
Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton won an emergency court order requiring the boy to receive medical care in Texas.
A California court granted parental rights to Ahmed and Gilkar, while a Texas court issued a restraining order blocking West from seeing the baby.

The Supreme Court Appeal

West filed the emergency appeal asking the Supreme Court to halt the previous ruling granting parental rights to Ahmed and Gilkar. She argued that without intervention from the Supreme Court, she would no longer have access to information about the child's medical condition. Lawyers for West suggested in the filing that the California couple could place the child in hospice care.

The Custody Dispute

Ahmed and Gilkar asked West to abort the pregnancy after a 20-week scan showed the foetus had a severe heart defect. West refused and travelled to Texas, where she gave birth to the child last month. West has argued that the biological parents should not have custody because she worries they would not give the boy necessary medical care. In a previous court hearing, Gilkar said the baby, whom they named Rumi, was "our child" and "the love of our lives". They said West travelled to Texas without telling them and blocked their access to medical information.

Medical Condition and State Intervention

The baby was born with hypoplastic left heart syndrome, a defect where the left side of the heart cannot pump enough blood to the body. The condition often requires multiple surgeries, which are not a cure, and infants can have lifelong complications, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton intervened in the case and won an emergency court order requiring that the boy receive medical care in the state. The boy had surgery soon after birth. Last month, an attorney for the California couple said the child was in critical condition and seemed to be "suffering from potential complications".