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U.S. Supreme Court Declines to Intervene in Texas Surrogacy Custody Battle
By Drooid · · How we work
Supreme Court Declines Intervention
The U.S. Supreme Court, through Justice Elena Kagan, rejected a petition to intervene in a custody dispute involving a child born via surrogate in Texas. The petition, filed by surrogate McKenna West, sought a conservatorship that would have given her authority over medical decisions for the infant. Kagan’s order did not provide a rationale for the denial.
Legal Background and Court Rulings
California residents Nausheen Gilkar and Omar Ahmed hired West after experiencing infertility. In April, the fetus was diagnosed with hypoplastic left heart syndrome, a severe congenital heart defect requiring multiple surgeries. The parents requested termination, but West refused and relocated to Texas, where abortion is prohibited, then asked a state district judge for custody, arguing she could not trust the parents to provide adequate care. Texas district courts, mirroring earlier California decisions, ruled against West’s custody request. Subsequent filings indicated that the child’s physician at Children’s Hospital in Dallas testified that the parents have agreed to the recommended treatment plan. The Texas Supreme Court also declined to bar the biological parents from transporting the child back to Los Angeles for continued care.
Official Statements from Parties
Gilkar and Ahmed’s attorney, Adam Wolf, said the parents are grateful that the child can continue receiving life-saving treatment and that the courts have consistently rejected attempts to undermine the parents’ right to care. West’s attorney, Lincoln Davis Wilson, expressed disappointment with the Supreme Court’s decision but emphasized that West’s legal fight was intended to protect the child’s interests from the outset.
Criticism from Surrogate’s Attorney
Wilson criticized the parents’ public claim that they alone are working to keep the child alive, asserting that court orders, not the parents’ discretion, dictate every life-saving decision.
Verbatim Quotes
- “We are truly grateful that Rumi can continue receiving the treatment he needs to survive, and that he will not be stripped away from what has been described by doctors as the excellent care of his parents,” — Adam Wolf, an attorney for Gilkar and Ahmed, in a statement Tuesday
- “That’s what McKenna has been fighting for from day One,” — Lincoln Davis Wilson, west’s attorney
- “Nothing could be further from the truth,” — Lincoln Davis Wilson, west’s attorney