US Supreme Court declines to intervene in surrogate custody dispute

September 23, 2026 at 04:43 AM2 min

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The US Supreme Court declined to intervene in a custody dispute involving surrogate McKenna West, who gave birth after refusing an abortion requested by the biological parents. Justice Elena Kagan rejected West's emergency appeal, leaving in place a California court order granting parental rights to Omar Ahmed and Nausheen Gilkar. The baby, born with hypoplastic left heart syndrome, remains in the couple's custody.

Key Facts

Justice Elena Kagan denied McKenna West's emergency appeal to halt a ruling granting parental rights to Omar Ahmed and Nausheen Gilkar.
West gave birth in Texas after the couple requested an abortion following a 20-week scan that revealed a severe heart defect.
The baby was born with hypoplastic left heart syndrome, a condition requiring multiple surgeries and often causing lifelong complications.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton intervened and 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.

Supreme Court Decision

Justice Elena Kagan declined an emergency appeal filed by McKenna West asking the court to halt a previous ruling granting parental rights to the California couple. The court's decision leaves in place an earlier order that granted custody to Omar Ahmed and Nausheen Gilkar. West argued that without intervention from the Supreme Court, she would no longer have access to information about the child's medical condition.

Custody Dispute

West travelled to Texas, where the state's 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 baby, named Rumi by the biological parents, was born last month with hypoplastic left heart syndrome and had surgery soon after birth. In a previous court hearing, Gilkar said the baby was "our child" and "the love of our lives", according to the Associated Press. West argued that the biological parents should not have custody because she worried they would not give the boy the necessary medical care since they sought to abort the child after learning of the life-threatening condition.

Medical Condition

Hypoplastic left heart syndrome is a defect where the left side of the heart cannot pump enough blood to the body, often requiring multiple surgeries that are not a cure. Infants with the condition can have lifelong complications, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Last month, an attorney for the California couple said the child was in critical condition and seemed to be "suffering from potential complications".