Legal And Social News

Texas surrogacy dispute over infant with heart defect threatens state’s reproductive laws

A Dallas court battle over the custody of a newborn with a rare heart defect is testing the limits of surrogacy contracts in Texas. McKenna West, an Alaskan surrogate, is seeking custody of the baby, whom she calls Gabriel, arguing that Texas law grants parental rights to the birth mother. The biological parents, Omar Ahmed and Nausheen Gilkar, have named the child Rumi and are suing West for over $100,000 for breaching a contract that included an abortion clause. While the infant has undergone a critical Norwood procedure, the case has drawn intervention from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and conservative groups, raising concerns that a ruling in West’s favor could discourage commercial surrogacy and alter how states enforce pregnancy termination clauses.