Surrogate, California couple clash in court as newborn fights for life after heart surgery
The critically ill newborn at the center of a bitter surrogate custody fight was placed back on a breathing tube after his condition worsened following open-heart surgery, according to newly filed court documents.
The baby is in critical condition and being closely watched at the hospital, intended parents Nausheen Gilkar and Omar Ahmed said in filings obtained by TMZ.
The couple said the child suffered possible complications after a Norwood procedure, an operation used to treat his severe heart defect, and had to be re-intubated after his condition declined overnight.
In a Dallas courtroom Tuesday, Gilkar and Ahmed faced surrogate McKenna West as they fought over who should make medical decisions for the newborn. The clash has drawn national attention because West says she refused the California couple’s earlier request to terminate the pregnancy after the baby was diagnosed with a life-threatening heart condition.
Gilkar and Ahmed call the baby Rumi. West, an Alaska cardiac nurse, calls him Gabriel and is asking a Texas judge to give her sole conservatorship, which would put medical decision-making in her hands.
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Gilkar told the court the couple has been at their son’s bedside as he fights through treatment. She said that since surgery, he has struggled to breathe, choked on tubes and needed a blood transfusion, according to court reporting by The Associated Press.
"He’s our child," Gilkar said, according to the AP.
She accused West of trying to take him away. "She’s trying to take him from us," Gilkar said.
Gilkar described the newborn as "the love of our lives" and said, "He’s suffering a lot."
The custody feud began after the baby was diagnosed at about 20 weeks with hypoplastic left heart syndrome, or HLHS. West says Gilkar and Ahmed then asked her to terminate the pregnancy. She refused and later traveled to Texas to give birth, Fox News Digital previously reported.
HLHS leaves one side of the heart underdeveloped and disrupts normal blood flow. Without treatment, the condition can be fatal within days or weeks, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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Budner disputes key parts of West’s account and says the couple did agree to the baby’s treatment. He told Fox News Digital that doctors determined on Aug. 14 that the child was eligible for the Norwood procedure, the first of three open-heart surgeries generally used to treat HLHS.
Gilkar and Ahmed consented to the surgery, which was performed Aug. 17, he said. At the time, Budner described the baby’s condition as "critical and complex."
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West’s lawyers have argued that the court should make sure the baby continues to receive life-saving care. West told the judge she would abandon her custody request if the court determines the intended parents are committed to that care, according to the AP.
Gilkar and Ahmed have asked the court to delay a hearing over the temporary restraining order that gave them custody while the legal fight continues, TMZ reported.
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The custody battle is only one part of the couple’s broader legal fight with West.
Before the baby was born, Gilkar and Ahmed filed counterclaims seeking more than $100,000, alleging West breached their surrogacy agreement and caused them emotional distress. The counterclaims, obtained by TMZ, said the couple paid West $60,000 during the pregnancy under an agreement that addressed termination. West has denied wrongdoing and asked the court to dismiss the claims.
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The dispute has only grown more personal since the baby’s Aug. 12 birth. West said in a New York Post opinion piece last week that she had only about a minute with the newborn, while his umbilical cord was still attached, before he was taken away. A court order has since barred her from seeing or holding the baby.
On Tuesday, the judge left that order in place and did not immediately decide the larger question of custody or conservatorship, according to the AP.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton secured an emergency court order before the birth directing that medically necessary care not be delayed or obstructed, Fox News Digital previously reported. Paxton’s office also notified two Dallas medical centers of their obligations to provide life-saving treatment.
The Associated Press and Fox News Digital's Jasmine Baehr contributed to this report.