Biological parents sue surrogate mother for more than $100,000 for not aborting baby
The biological parents of a baby born to a surrogate have launched a lawsuit over claims she broke the terms of their contract by not having an abortion.
Alaskan nurse McKenna West gave birth last week (12 August) in Texas to a baby boy she has named Gabriel, but the child's biological parents say his name is Rumi and are suing over allegations of 'outrageous conduct'.
Nausheen Gilkar and Omar Ahmed say that West was their surrogate and went against their wishes by carrying the baby to term after the child was diagnosed with a serious heart condition during his 20-week scan.
Court filings say the biological parents Gilkar and Ahmed told West to get an abortion, and West's legal representative Lincoln Wilson told The Dallas Morning News a contract between them 'allowed the intended parents to choose to terminate the pregnancy in the case of fetal anomalies'.
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Instead she travelled to Texas, with Wilson saying West did that because the US state would see the baby as hers since she gave birth to him.
As soon as the baby was born he went in for emergency surgery for his hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS), which is where the left side of your heart does not develop properly, and has since been placed in the custody of his biological parents.
West launched a legal battle to get the baby she carried back, with her lawyer saying she could take things as far as the Supreme Court.
TMZ reports that Gilkar and Ahmed have launched a countersuit seeking damages of over $100,000 as they accuse West of breaking their surrogate deal which they say means she should have had an abortion when they told her to.
They're also seeing unspecified damages for 'malicious, outrageous conduct', and claim they paid West $60,000 to be a surrogate to their baby.
Gilkar and Ahmed also deny threatening West to have an abortion, and the suit claims the couple have suffered emotional distress.
West denies accusations of wrongdoing and says she saved the baby's life.
She previously told anti-abortion organisation Live Action that becoming a surrogate for the couple initially felt like a 'perfect match'.
When the 20-week scan found the heart defect she alleges they told her to travel from Alaska to Seattle because a doctor in her home state wouldn't carry out the abortion.
West doesn't have access to the baby she calls Gabriel and whose biological parents say is Rumi, but the legal battle over custody of the child has begun.
LADbible Group has contacted Nausheen Gilkar and Omar Ahmed’s legal representative for comment.
A timeline of McKenna West’s surrogacy legal battle
February 2025
McKenna West, a nurse from Alaska, applies to be a surrogate for Worldwide Surrogacy in order to make extra income for her family.
August 2025
West signs a surrogacy agreement with Omar Ahmed and Nausheen Gilkar, from California. She says the contract she signed required her to undergo an abortion in the event of an ‘anomaly’.
Early 2026
After falling pregnant via IVF, West, Ahmed and Gilkar learn during West’s 20 week scan that the baby has hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS) - a serious but survivable condition.
Legal filings from Ahmed and Gilkar’s lawyers read (via AP): “After heartbreaking consultations with medical providers and their own research about the suffering and quality of life HLHS babies endure, A.B. and C.D. (birth parents) made the difficult decision to terminate the pregnancy.
“It is undisputed that West initially agreed and that she herself made the initial appointment.”
But West tells Live Action News: “I knew that I didn't want to have to go through [an abortion]. I didn't want for this baby - for his life to be cut short.”
When she refuses to have an abortion, West says Ahmed and Gilkar threatened to sue her for $250,000 for breaching the surrogacy agreement.
20 July 2026
Ahmed and Gilkaer argue in legal filings that West ‘cut off all contact’ with them and ‘withdrew medical releases’ allowing them to have contact with her medical providers.
West flees to Texas, where abortion is illegal. Meanwhile, a court order in California affirms that Ahmed and Gilkar are the legal parents of the child. This also means they will have to pay for the child’s medical bills.
28 July 2026
An Alaskan Superior Court rejects a request to force West to relocate to California to give birth, but says that California has jurisdiction. A California court will decide where West gives birth and the medical team to treat her.
11 August 2026
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton intervenes with a court order that means UT Southwestern Medical Center and Children’s Medical Center of Dallas must provide life-saving care to the baby, who he and West refer to as Gabriel.
The order prevents West from being forced to go to California while the case is considered.
However, the court also prevents West from making any medical decisions on behalf of the child, exercising any possession of the child, or representing herself as the child’s parent or guardian.
Ahmed and Gilkaer deny they ever intended to refuse treatment for the baby
12 August 2026
The baby is born in the morning in Texas two weeks early and immediately receives care for HLHS.
While West continues to refer to the baby as Gabriel, Ahmed and Gilkaer refer to the baby boy as Rumi in legal filings.
13 August 2026
Attorneys for both parties speak out. West’s attorney Lincoln Davis Wilson said West was not allowed to have any contact with the baby after the birth, but intends to pursue custody.
He told CBS: “We are working on challenging those orders of parentage because we think that Texas law makes a woman who gives birth [to] a child, the mother of the child.”
Meanwhile, Ahmed and Gilkaer’s attorney Lee Budner tells the outlet: "Our clients' son was born yesterday morning and he is now in their physical custody while he receives expert medical care at a tertiary care center.
"Thankfully, McKenna West's baseless attempt to interfere with his medical care has been soundly rejected by the courts."
25 August 2026
West is ordered to appear at a Texas court.
Topics: US News
Joe Harker