California couple confront their surrogate in a Texas court as dispute over newborn escalates
California Couple Confront Their Surrogate in Texas Court
Activelifezero.com – A Dallas courtroom turned into a raw emotional battleground Tuesday when a California couple confront their surrogate over who controls the medical fate of a newborn battling a fatal heart defect. Nausheen Gilkar, seated across from McKenna West — the Alaska-born nurse who carried the child to term — pleaded with the judge to retain authority over her son’s care. The clash between the two women has drawn scrutiny from right-to-life groups and Republican legislators, making it one of the most closely followed surrogacy-and-abortion disputes in recent years.
“He’s our child,” Gilkar told the court, wiping tears from her cheeks. “She’s unstable. She’s trying to take him from us.”
A Newborn Fighting for Survival
The infant, whom Gilkar and her husband Omar Ahmed have named Rumi, arrived on August 12 in Texas with hypoplastic left heart syndrome, a congenital defect in which one side of the heart fails to form properly and normal circulation is disrupted. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates fewer than 1,000 U.S. babies are born with the condition annually; without intervention, it is typically fatal within days or weeks.
Court filings filed ahead of the hearing described Rumi as critically ill, apparently suffering complications from a post-birth procedure. Gilkar told the judge the baby had no blood flow to the left side of his heart and that, since surgery, he had gasped for air, choked on medical tubing, and required a blood transfusion.
“He’s the most beautiful person I’ve ever seen,” Gilkar said. “He’s the love of our lives. He’s suffering a lot.”
From Eight Failed IVF Cycles to a Surrogacy Contract
Gilkar recounted a years-long struggle to conceive. She completed eight rounds of in vitro fertilization in Los Angeles before her body, in her words, “gave up,” ultimately requiring a hysterectomy. With no remaining option to carry a pregnancy herself, the couple entered a surrogacy agreement in August 2025.
West, a registered nurse, remained in the Gilkar-Ahmed home in Los Angeles throughout the process. Gilkar testified that she was present during the embryo transfer.
“I was holding her hand,” Gilkar said, crying on the stand.
The Abortion Decision That Split the Case
National attention has focused on a single moment during the pregnancy. West told the court she was 23 weeks along when, at the couple’s urging, an abortion appointment was scheduled. She was not comfortable proceeding.
“I knew that this baby, despite the diagnosis, had a great chance at survival and a great chance at leading a long life,” West said.
West flew from Alaska to Texas — a state where most abortions are prohibited — to deliver the child. After birth, the couple secured a restraining order barring West from seeing or holding the infant; that order remained in force through Tuesday’s hearing.
West’s attorneys, Lee Budner and Jeff Domen, argued the couple never committed to ensuring the baby would receive the surgeries and life-saving interventions his condition demands. They contended West should be granted conservatorship so she can make medical decisions. West told Budner on the stand that if the court finds the couple committed to the necessary surgeries, she would withdraw any custody claims.
Domen pressed Gilkar repeatedly on whether she had asked for the pregnancy to be terminated. She confirmed she had. Asked whether she regretted that decision, Gilkar said she did not.
“Would you trust somebody to care for your child that wanted your child dead?” Domen asked.
Gilkar said she did not know how to answer.
Unresolved Legal Questions and a Regulatory Vacuum
The couple’s attorney pointed to California court records establishing that West holds no rights to legal or physical custody. West asked the judge to set aside that determination, arguing she had been willing to fight for the baby since the diagnosis was made. The judge issued no final ruling on custody or conservatorship Tuesday and gave no timeline for when a decision might come. West, who has referred to the child as Gabriel, continues to seek sole conservatorship specifically to make medical decisions on his behalf.
The dispute has also illuminated a structural weakness in American law: surrogacy is not governed by any federal statute. Each state writes its own rules, and cross-border arrangements like this one fall into gaps that leave both parents and surrogates without a uniform legal framework.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is hypoplastic left heart syndrome? It is a congenital heart defect in which the left side of the heart fails to develop properly, disrupting normal blood circulation. Without surgical intervention, it is typically fatal within days or weeks of birth.
Why did the surrogate fly to Texas to deliver? McKenna West traveled from Alaska to Texas, a state where most abortions are prohibited, to give birth. The couple had previously discussed terminating the pregnancy at 23 weeks, but West chose to carry the child to term and deliver in a jurisdiction where an abortion could not easily be performed.
What is conservatorship in this context? Conservatorship is a court-granted authority to make decisions — here, medical decisions — for a person who cannot make them independently. West is seeking sole conservatorship so she can direct Rumi’s surgical and ongoing medical care.
Is surrogacy regulated at the federal level in the United States? No. There is no federal statute governing surrogacy. Each state sets its own rules, which creates uncertainty in cross-border arrangements where the intended parents and the surrogate reside in different states.
