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Los Angeles couple confronts their surrogate in Texas court as dispute over newborn escalates
ABC7 Los Angeles • • nation
Key Points:
- A Los Angeles couple is in a legal battle with their Texas-based surrogate, McKenna West, over custody of a newborn with a life-threatening heart defect, hypoplastic left heart syndrome, which has worsened since birth.
- The couple, Nausheen Gilkar and Omar Ahmed, claim the child, named Rumi, is theirs and accuse West of trying to take him away, while West seeks sole conservatorship to make medical decisions and opposes the couple's earlier request for an abortion.
- West, who carried the baby to term after initially agreeing to an abortion, argues the couple was not committed to life-saving care, whereas the couple insists West violated their surrogacy contract and that they are dedicated to the child's treatment.
- The court has not yet ruled on custody or conservatorship, and a restraining order currently prevents West from seeing or holding the child; the case highlights complex legal and ethical issues surrounding surrogacy, abortion, and parental rights in different states.
