{"id":6518,"date":"2026-08-14T09:36:59","date_gmt":"2026-08-14T09:36:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=6518"},"modified":"2026-08-14T09:36:59","modified_gmt":"2026-08-14T09:36:59","slug":"inside-surrogate-mckenna-wests-quixotic-quest-to-keep-the-baby-she-delivered-despite-biological-parents-wishes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=6518","title":{"rendered":"Inside surrogate McKenna West’s quixotic quest to keep the baby she delivered despite biological parents’ wishes"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

She may have kept the pregnancy \u2014 but she won\u2019t be keeping the baby.<\/p>\n

The surrogate who crossed state lines to give birth to a baby boy against his biological parents\u2019 wishes that she terminate the pregnancy has virtually no legal claim to the child, a reproductive law attorney told The Post.<\/p>\n

Read more Netflix makes noticeable change for Field of Dreams broadcast after facing heat on opening night<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t see any reason why these biological parents wouldn\u2019t still be the legal parents of this child,\u201d Marla Neufeld, a Florida-based reproductive lawyer and host of \u201cThe Surrogacy Space\u201d podcast, said of the newborn delivered by surrogate McKenna West in Dallas Wednesday.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Less than 24 hours after his birth, the boy \u2014 whom West named Gabriel \u2014 was placed in the custody of his biological parents, Nausheen Gilkar and Omar Ahmed.<\/p>\n

The Los Angeles couple had asked West, an Alaskan nurse, to terminate the pregnancy after the baby was diagnosed with hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS), a severe but treatable heart condition, at 20 weeks. A clause in their surrogate agreement said that if an \u201canomaly\u201d were found, they could move to abort the pregnancy.<\/p>\n

West, a single mom of two, instead bolted to Texas, where she would be recognized as the birth mother under state law.\u00a0<\/p>\n

While the terms of a surrogacy agreement would not have given Gilkar and Ahmed the power to force West to have an abortion, \u201cthat\u2019s a totally separate issue from their parental rights,\u201d according to Neufeld.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the end of the day \u2026 the surrogate has decision-making authority for her body,\u201d Neufeld said. \u201cThere\u2019s no judge that\u2019s gonna make her have an abortion or stop her.\u201d<\/p>\n

West initially agreed to terminate the pregnancy, Gilkar and Ahmed have claimed in court papers. But she changed her mind \u2014 saying the couple tried to force her to have an abortion, which they have denied, the Texas Tribune reported. <\/p>\n

The couple ultimately decided to see through the pregnancy to delivery \u2014 opting to name the boy Rumi and have West deliver in California, where he\u2019d receive lifelong treatment, according to court docs reviewed by the Tribune.<\/p>\n

Most surrogacy agreements include a court-verified \u201cparentage order\u201d establishing the baby\u2019s biological parents, regardless of where the surrogate gives birth, Neufeld explained.\u00a0But a California court has already ruled that Gilkar and Ahmed are, in fact, the baby\u2019s legal parents.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t see a world where [West] has rights to the baby,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cShe is not the biological parent \u2026 and under the states that are at play \u2014 between Alaska, California and Texas \u2013 I\u2019m not aware of anything in their surrogacy provisions that would give her access to the child,\u201d the attorney said, calling the case \u201can anomaly.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI think [West] is taking a position that is just so unfounded,\u201d she added. \u201cI don\u2019t know if she bonded with the child in a way that created this type of issue, but she has no legal right to name the baby.\u201d<\/p>\n

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton\u2019s sudden involvement in the case was also \u201cunique,\u201d according to the attorney.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Paxton filed a last-minute petition this week urging doctors to give the baby life-saving care upon his birth \u2014 including intensive treatment and at least one surgery \u2014 and to prevent him from being taken out of the state, which a judge granted on Tuesday.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Read more Bruce Blakeman promises to axe New York\u2019s strict crypto regulatory policy BitLicense if elected governor<\/a><\/p>\n

Newborns diagnosed with HLHS require surgery almost immediately after birth in order to survive beyond their first week.\u00a0<\/p>\n

As of Thursday, the baby was \u201creceiving medical care provided by a team of pediatric experts,\u201d his parents\u2019 attorney, Lee Budner, told the New York Times \u2014 adding that Gilkar and Ahmed will \u201cplace their baby\u2019s health and well-being first, following the advice of the baby\u2019s medical team.\u201d<\/p>\n

While a separate court order currently bars West from seeing the baby, the mother of two is ready to fight for custody \u2014 all the way up to the Supreme Court, her attorney, Lincoln Wilson, told The Post Thursday.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe is seeking parentage of the child because she gave birth in Texas, and in Texas, if you give birth to a child, it\u2019s your child,\u201d Wilson said.<\/p>\n

What happens next in the headline-grabbing case depends partly on whether West will pursue the unlikely process of trying to gain parental rights \u2014 as well as the infant\u2019s health, Neufeld said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI think a lot of the next steps really pertain to the health and safety of the child, and how the baby is gonna be doing and what medical care the baby\u2019s gonna need and ensuring that the parents, as they should, have a say in the continued care of the child.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

\u201cThe parents, they\u2019re going to have to bear the long-term consequences,\u201d the expert continued. \u201cThis is something now they have to support financially and emotionally, and it is a really tough position that the parents have to handle.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Budner said the couple was \u201cdevastated\u201d by the public political drama surrounding the surrogacy scandal \u2013 and slammed the Lone Star State AG for making matters worse.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAs if the heartbreak of his condition were not enough, they are devastated to see their family tragedy transformed into political theater by the Texas Attorney General\u2019s office and McKenna West,\u201d Budner told TMZ.<\/p>\n

Neufeld, whose twin sons were born via surrogacy, said the case has the potential to change legislation at both the state and federal levels.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s possible that the legislators in Texas or other states might look at this to see what safeguards could be added to their law, because a lot of times we follow best practices, but the best practices are not always legal requirements,\u201d she said, giving examples including mandated mental health screenings for potential surrogates and different lawyers to represent the parents and the surrogate.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThere might be additional safeguards added to certain laws or laws created \u2013 and some states don\u2019t have surrogacy laws. So there might just be more infrastructure established just nationwide in general,\u201d Neufeld added.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The California couple, who are suing West, are slated to appear in a Dallas County court on Aug. 25.<\/p>\n

Read more Georgia executives handed light sentence for role in historic $380M Ponzi scheme: \u2018I was a coward\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Surrogate McKenna West has no legal claim to the baby she delivered against the wishes of biological parents Nausheen Gilkar and Omar Ahmed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6517,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6518","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-us-news"],"yoast_head":"\nInside surrogate McKenna West's quixotic quest to keep the baby she delivered despite biological parents' wishes - Metro Transit Review<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=6518\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Inside surrogate McKenna West's quixotic quest to keep the baby she delivered despite biological parents' wishes - Metro Transit Review\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Surrogate McKenna West has no legal claim to the baby she delivered against the wishes of biological parents Nausheen Gilkar and Omar Ahmed.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=6518\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Metro Transit Review\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-08-14T09:36:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=6518#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=6518\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7cd7bd9683106710eed62ba5da559b14\"},\"headline\":\"Inside surrogate McKenna West’s quixotic quest to keep the baby she delivered despite biological parents’ wishes\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-14T09:36:59+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=6518\"},\"wordCount\":1077,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=6518#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/56e8ec4b2f1cb6055a8296b469b5075a.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"US News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=6518#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=6518\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=6518\",\"name\":\"Inside surrogate McKenna West's quixotic quest to keep the baby she delivered despite biological parents' wishes - Metro Transit Review\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=6518#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=6518#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/56e8ec4b2f1cb6055a8296b469b5075a.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-14T09:36:59+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7cd7bd9683106710eed62ba5da559b14\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=6518#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=6518\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=6518#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/56e8ec4b2f1cb6055a8296b469b5075a.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/56e8ec4b2f1cb6055a8296b469b5075a.webp\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":799},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=6518#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Inside surrogate McKenna West’s quixotic quest to keep the baby she delivered despite biological parents’ wishes\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Metro Transit Review\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7cd7bd9683106710eed62ba5da559b14\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Inside surrogate McKenna West's quixotic quest to keep the baby she delivered despite biological parents' wishes - Metro Transit Review","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=6518","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Inside surrogate McKenna West's quixotic quest to keep the baby she delivered despite biological parents' wishes - Metro Transit Review","og_description":"Surrogate McKenna West has no legal claim to the baby she delivered against the wishes of biological parents Nausheen Gilkar and Omar Ahmed.","og_url":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=6518","og_site_name":"Metro Transit Review","article_published_time":"2026-08-14T09:36:59+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=6518#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=6518"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/#\/schema\/person\/7cd7bd9683106710eed62ba5da559b14"},"headline":"Inside surrogate McKenna West’s quixotic quest to keep the baby she delivered despite biological parents’ wishes","datePublished":"2026-08-14T09:36:59+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=6518"},"wordCount":1077,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=6518#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/56e8ec4b2f1cb6055a8296b469b5075a.webp","articleSection":["US News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=6518#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=6518","url":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=6518","name":"Inside surrogate McKenna West's quixotic quest to keep the baby she delivered despite biological parents' wishes - Metro Transit Review","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=6518#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=6518#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/56e8ec4b2f1cb6055a8296b469b5075a.webp","datePublished":"2026-08-14T09:36:59+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/#\/schema\/person\/7cd7bd9683106710eed62ba5da559b14"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=6518#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=6518"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=6518#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/56e8ec4b2f1cb6055a8296b469b5075a.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/56e8ec4b2f1cb6055a8296b469b5075a.webp","width":1200,"height":799},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=6518#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Inside surrogate McKenna West’s quixotic quest to keep the baby she delivered despite biological parents’ wishes"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/","name":"Metro Transit Review","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/#\/schema\/person\/7cd7bd9683106710eed62ba5da559b14","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/metrotransitreview.com"],"url":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6518","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6518"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6518\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6517"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6518"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6518"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6518"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}