A legal fight that began over an abortion request now includes the baby’s name, after an Alaska surrogate gave birth in the Dallas area and the California parents took custody.
McKenna West, a 28-year-old nurse, delivered the boy on Aug. 12 in North Texas, her attorney Lincoln Wilson told The Dallas Morning News. West has called him Gabriel. The intended parents, Nausheen Gilkar and Omar Ahmed of California, refer to him as Rumi in court filings. TMZ reported West argues she only used a nickname and did not block them from putting Rumi on the birth certificate. A judge has told both sides not to use either name, according to reporting on the filings.
The child was diagnosed at about 20 weeks with hypoplastic left heart syndrome, a severe congenital defect. According to West and her lawyers, the couple then asked her to terminate the pregnancy. The couple’s filings say West initially agreed, then changed her mind. The contract included a termination clause for a fetal abnormality, TMZ reported.
West moved to Texas, saying she wanted care at hospitals experienced with the condition. Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office intervened in Dallas County court and obtained an order that UT Southwestern Medical Center and Children’s Medical Center of Dallas provide life-saving care. Paxton later said the baby received the first of three planned surgeries. On Wednesday, KERA reported Paxton’s office withdrew from the case after saying that goal had been met…