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Surrogate Files Supreme Court Appeal in Custody Dispute Over Infant with Heart Defect
Just the facts
West carried the child under a surrogacy agreement with California residents Nausheen Gilkar and Omar Ahmed, who requested a pregnancy termination after an ultrasound detected hypoplastic left heart syndrome. West declined to terminate the pregnancy, relocated to Texas, and gave birth to the child on August 12, 2026. A Los Angeles Superior Court judge established Gilkar and Ahmed as the legal parents, leading a Texas state court to enforce the California judgment and remove West from participating in medical decisions. The newborn underwent open-heart surgery on August 17, 2026, while West petitioned the Supreme Court to regain legal standing to advocate for the infant's ongoing care.
Why this is news
Surrogate mother McKenna West filed an emergency application with U.S. Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan seeking to halt a California court ruling that granted legal custody of a newborn with a critical heart defect to his intended parents.
Sources
This summary is compiled strictly from the original reporting below.