Surrogate who refused to abort baby says he was taken from her when umbilical cord was cut
McKenna West, a surrogate who refused to terminate a paid-for pregnancy and later gave birth in Texas, has claimed the baby was snatched moments after being delivered.
West, a nurse from Alaska, has been in a legal battle with the baby’s biological parents, from California, after she didn’t follow through with a planned termination after doctors discovered the baby had hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS).
HLHS is a rare congenital condition where the left side of the heart does not develop properly, but it is treatable.
Parents Nausheen Gilkar and Omar Ahmed had decided to terminate the pregnancy at around 20 weeks' gestation following the diagnosis, but West refused and travelled to Texas, where abortion is banned in almost any situation.
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However, Gilkar and Ahmed filed a temporary restraining order against West, which then terminated her rights to be recognized as the birth mother of the baby, who she named Gabriel.
They also filed a countersuit seeking more than $100,000 in damages from West after they claim she broke their contract, which was signed in August 2025.
Now, West has spoken out to tell her version of events, which has seen her reveal the moments she lost Gabriel.
'I made my own plans to save him'
Writing for the New York Post, she explained her view on the situation, penning: "As a cardiac nurse, I knew this little one had a great shot at survival if given the opportunity to receive the necessary treatment.
"No threat or amount of money could sway my conviction that this baby had a real chance at a full life, and I could not participate in killing him and depriving him of that opportunity. All I wanted was for the contracting couple to commit to giving this baby lifesaving treatment. But they refused.
"So, I made my own plans to save him."
'As soon as the cord was cut, he was taken away'
Speaking of the aftermath of the birth, she went on to claim: "I haven’t been allowed to hold this precious baby boy I carried and protected throughout my pregnancy. The only glimpse I got of him was during a very short 60 seconds while his umbilical cord was still connected.
"As soon as the cord was cut, he was taken away."
She previously told Live Action News of her inability to follow through with the termination, stating: “I knew that I didn't want to have to go through [an abortion]. I didn't want for this baby - for his life to be cut short.”
The baby was born two weeks early in Texas and has since undergone major heart surgery due to his HLHS.
The attorney of Gilkar and Ahmed, who now have custody of him and have renamed him Rumi, said he was ‘now recuperating under the loving care of his parents and his heroic team of doctors, nurses, and medical staff’.
He added that Rumi’s ‘condition remains critical and complex, and his family seeks privacy in caring for their son on his long road to recovery'.
Still, West’s attorney, Lincoln Davis Wilson, has argued that she should have custody of the baby as Texas law supports her claim.
According to him, the state recognizes her as the mother.
He previously told CBS: “We are working on challenging those orders of parentage because we think that Texas law makes a woman who gives birth [to] a child, the mother of the child.”
However, legally, West has been prevented from making medical decisions or exercising possession of the baby due to the order against her by the biological parents.
It will end when she attends court for her scheduled appearance on August 25.
Of her legal dispute, she told the NYP: "I’m not fighting to try to take someone else’s baby. I’m fighting because this baby boy needs someone willing to advocate for and fight alongside him as he gets the ongoing treatment his fragile heart requires. And it turns out that someone is me."
Topics: US News
Britt Jones