A California couple who demanded that their baby’s surrogate mother abort their child has gained custody of their son since his birth and is now criticizing Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton for intervening in the surrogate mother’s pregnancy.
McKenna West gave birth to “baby Gabriel” on Aug. 12 while defying orders from the intended parents to abort their son at 20 weeks in utero. The surrogate mother had fled from Alaska to Texas to get specialized live-saving care for the child, who was diagnosed with hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS), a condition that requires a series of surgeries beginning shortly after birth.
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In court filings, the intended parents — Nausheen Gilkar and Omar Ahmed — are slamming Paxton, whose court order required that Gabriel receive “life-saving medical care” upon his birth that “will not be delayed.” His order also “prevents anyone from withholding or obstructing necessary treatment or removing, discharging or transferring the child while the court considers the case.”
Lee Budner, the California couple’s attorney, argued that his clients “had frequently sought involvement in the medical process and had made the [abortion] decision, which they felt was best for the baby.”
Meanwhile, Paxton’s court order expresses concern that the intended parents could “refuse consent to the surgery and allow the child to die” and “may instead arrange air transport of the child to California during his first week of life, so that treatment decisions can be made under California law rather than Texas law.”
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EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written by Hannah Davis and originally published by Decision Magazine. Used with permission.
