Uploaded August 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
(25 Aug 2026)
Clients note: This item contains on-screen graphics, including AP branding.
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Dallas, Texas - 25 August 2026
1. Surrogate McKenna West walking into court
2. West walking out of court
3. Omar Ahmed and Nausheen Gilkar, who used surrogate, walking into court
4. Nausheen Gilkar who used surrogate walking into court
STORYLINE:
A California couple in an escalating fight with their surrogate over a newborn with a life-threatening heart defect told a Texas court Tuesday that the child's condition has worsened and they are anguished by attempts to deny them parental rights because they previously wanted an abortion.
The hearing offered the fullest public airing to date of a deepening and high-profile dispute over surrogacy and abortion that has rushed right-to-life groups and GOP officeholders to the side of West, a nurse who flew from Alaska to have the baby on Aug. 12 in Texas, where most abortions are banned.
Gilkar and her husband, Omar Ahmed, say they named the newborn Rumi. Attorneys for West, who has called the child Gabriel, said she is seeking sole conservatorship to make medical decisions for the child.
It was not clear when the judge would issue an order in the case.
West told the court that she was 23 weeks pregnant when she made an appointment for an abortion at the couple's urging but was not comfortable with it.
After West gave birth, the couple obtained a restraining order barring her from seeing or holding the child.
The judge did not rule on final custody or conservatorship Tuesday, and the restraining order was left in effect.
Court documents filed by the couple's attorney prior to the hearing said Rumi was in critical condition and appeared to be “suffering from potential complications” from a procedure after he was born.
The child has hypoplastic left heart syndrome, a congenital defect in which one side of the organ is underdeveloped, preventing normal blood flow.
Fewer than 1,000 newborns each year have the condition, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Without treatment, death can come within days or weeks.
Gilkar told the court that the baby had no blood flow to the left side of his heart. Since surgery, she said, he has gasped for air, choked on tubes and needed a blood transfusion.
West and her attorneys have argued that Gilkar and Ahmed were not committed to guaranteeing that the baby would undergo surgeries or “life-saving care.” They say West should have conservatorship because the couple asked her to terminate the pregnancy after learning of the baby's diagnosis.
On the stand, West told their attorney, Lee Budner, that if the court finds that the couple are committed to the baby receiving the surgeries, she would drop any custody claims.
Jeff Domen, an attorney for West, repeatedly pressed Gilkar on the couple's desire to terminate the pregnancy, asking her to confirm that she requested it. Asked if she regretted the decision, Gilkar responded that she did not.
Gilkar and Ahmed say West violated the surrogacy contract they entered in August 2025.
Gilkar told the court that she entered the contract after going through eight rounds of in vitro fertilization in Los Angeles and her body “gave up.” She had to undergo a hysterectomy, she said.
West stayed in the couple's home in Los Angeles, Gilkar said, and she was there with West for the IVF transfer.
Surrogacy is not regulated on a federal level, and experts say each state has its own laws, which can leave room for gaps in interpretation.
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(25 Aug 2026)
Clients note: This item contains on-screen graphics, including AP branding.
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Dallas, Texas - 25 August 2026
1. Surrogate McKenna West walking into court
2. West walking out of court
3. Omar Ahmed and Nausheen Gilkar, who used surrogate, walking into court
4. Nausheen Gilkar who used surrogate walking into court
STORYLINE:
A California couple in an escalating fight with their surrogate over a newborn with a life-threatening heart defect told a Texas court Tuesday that the child's condition has worsened and they are anguished by attempts to deny them parental rights because they previously wanted an abortion.
The hearing offered the fullest public airing to date of a deepening and high-profile dispute over surrogacy and abortion that has rushed right-to-life groups and GOP officeholders to the side of West, a nurse who flew from Alaska to have the baby on Aug. 12 in Texas, where most abortions are banned.
Gilkar and her husband, Omar Ahmed, say they named the newborn Rumi. Attorneys for West, who has called the child Gabriel, said she is seeking sole conservatorship to make medical decisions for the child.
It was not clear when the judge would issue an order in the case.
West told the court that she was 23 weeks pregnant when she made an appointment for an abortion at the couple's urging but was not comfortable with it.
After West gave birth, the couple obtained a restraining order barring her from seeing or holding the child.
The judge did not rule on final custody or conservatorship Tuesday, and the restraining order was left in effect.
Court documents filed by the couple's attorney prior to the hearing said Rumi was in critical condition and appeared to be “suffering from potential complications” from a procedure after he was born.
The child has hypoplastic left heart syndrome, a congenital defect in which one side of the organ is underdeveloped, preventing normal blood flow.
Fewer than 1,000 newborns each year have the condition, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Without treatment, death can come within days or weeks.
Gilkar told the court that the baby had no blood flow to the left side of his heart. Since surgery, she said, he has gasped for air, choked on tubes and needed a blood transfusion.
West and her attorneys have argued that Gilkar and Ahmed were not committed to guaranteeing that the baby would undergo surgeries or “life-saving care.” They say West should have conservatorship because the couple asked her to terminate the pregnancy after learning of the baby's diagnosis.
On the stand, West told their attorney, Lee Budner, that if the court finds that the couple are committed to the baby receiving the surgeries, she would drop any custody claims.
Jeff Domen, an attorney for West, repeatedly pressed Gilkar on the couple's desire to terminate the pregnancy, asking her to confirm that she requested it. Asked if she regretted the decision, Gilkar responded that she did not.
Gilkar and Ahmed say West violated the surrogacy contract they entered in August 2025.
Gilkar told the court that she entered the contract after going through eight rounds of in vitro fertilization in Los Angeles and her body “gave up.” She had to undergo a hysterectomy, she said.
West stayed in the couple's home in Los Angeles, Gilkar said, and she was there with West for the IVF transfer.
Surrogacy is not regulated on a federal level, and experts say each state has its own laws, which can leave room for gaps in interpretation.
Find out more about AP Archive: aparchive.com/HowWeWork
Twitter: twitter.com/AP_Archive
Facebook: facebook.com/APArchives
Instagram: instagram.com/APNews
You can license this story through AP Archive: aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/5d485285e9c64871881f22da04a73957
