The surrogate custody case at the Supreme Court
Alaska surrogate McKenna West has asked the US Supreme Court to intervene in her custody fight over a baby she carried for California couple Omar Ahmed and Nausheen Gilkar, after the couple asked her to terminate the pregnancy when a 20-week scan revealed hypoplastic left heart syndrome, a serious defect that starves the left heart of blood flow. West refused, instead traveling to Texas, where abortion is almost entirely banned, to give birth in August; the boy, whom she calls Gabriel and the couple call Rumi, underwent surgery shortly after birth and was reported in critical condition as of last month. West's emergency appeal seeks to halt a California court ruling that recognized Ahmed and Gilkar as the legal parents, arguing they cannot be trusted to pursue the ongoing surgeries the condition typically requires and suggesting they may instead choose hospice care.