A 28-year-old surrogate mother in the United States is facing a lawsuit from the biological parents of a baby she carried after she declined their request to terminate the pregnancy following the discovery of a serious heart defect.
According to TMZ, Nasheen Gilkar and Omar Ahmed filed a countersuit against McKenna West weeks before she gave birth to the baby in Texas.
The couple had agreed to pay West $60,000 to serve as their surrogate. Their agreement reportedly contained an abortion clause permitting them to terminate the pregnancy if a foetal abnormality was discovered.
However, at around 20 weeks into the pregnancy, the baby was diagnosed with hypoplastic left heart syndrome, a rare and potentially life-threatening congenital heart condition.
The intended parents subsequently asked West to terminate the pregnancy, but she refused.
West later travelled to Texas, where she gave birth to the baby on August 12. She named the child Gabriel, while the biological parents maintain that his name is Rumi.
Gilkar and Ahmed are seeking more than $100,000 in damages, alleging that West breached their agreement. They are also seeking unspecified damages over what they described as her “malicious, outrageous conduct.”
The couple, however, denied ever threatening to force West to undergo an abortion.
West’s lawyer, Lincoln Wilson, said Gilkar and Ahmed had provided her with nothing since she declined to terminate the pregnancy.
The dispute has now developed into a legal battle over custody and parentage of the child.
“She is seeking parentage of the child because she gave birth in Texas, and in Texas, if you give birth to a child, it’s your child,” Wilson told The Post.
However, reproductive law attorney Marla Neufeld previously told The Post that West has virtually no legal claim to the child.
West, who had previously been pregnant twice, said she believed the baby should be given an opportunity to live despite the diagnosis.
“Every life matters. No woman should be forced to end the life of the baby she is carrying — including me … Baby Gabriel should receive a chance at life,” she said.
Hypoplastic left heart syndrome is a congenital heart defect that typically requires multiple surgeries. Survivors may also face lifelong medical treatment and potentially serious health complications.
