Texas Custody Fight Erupts After Surrogate Refuses Abortion of Baby Born Aug. 12
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Aug 20
Texas Custody Fight Erupts After Surrogate Refuses Abortion of Baby Born Aug. 12
3 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Aug 20
Summary
A baby born Aug. 12 after an Alaska surrogate refused a requested abortion is now at the center of a Texas custody and medical-decision fight involving the intended California parents.
A 20-week scan found hypoplastic left heart syndrome, and McKenna West rejected a contract clause requiring termination if fetal abnormalities were diagnosed and the intended parents requested it.
West then left for Texas, where abortion has been nearly totally banned since 2022, after connecting with activist Lila Rose and lawyers from Alliance Defending Freedom; Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton later intervened.
Texas and California court orders have given Omar Ahmed and Nausheen Gilkar custody and medical authority, but they still cannot leave Texas for now and West is seeking custody.
The case has become a broader test of how weak U.S. surrogacy regulation collides with post-Roe abortion laws when contracts, consent and emergency neonatal care break down.