From The Texas Tribune · Terri Langford · · 1m 30s
Texas judge: the surrogate is not Baby G's parent
An Alaskan surrogate flew to Texas to win custody of the baby she carried, and a Dallas judge said no.
In brief
An Alaskan surrogate flew to Texas to win custody of the baby she carried, and a Dallas judge said no. A surrogate who gives birth in Texas does not gain parental rights over the child, and this one is now asking the U.S. Supreme Court to say otherwise. Originally reported by The Texas Tribune.
A judge says no
A Texas judge ruled against McKenna West, the Alaskan surrogate who asked for custody of the medically fragile baby she delivered in Dallas.
Now she wants the Supreme Court
West's attorneys filed Wednesday asking the U.S. Supreme Court to step in and freeze things where they stand while she keeps pressing her case.
“A stay is needed to preserve the status quo and ensure M.W. can advocate for her rights and remain informed about Baby G.”
Why she flew to Texas
West traveled from Alaska to Texas, a state that bans abortion, and sought sole conservatorship so she could make the baby's medical decisions instead of the biological parents.
The abortion accusation
She said the biological parents, Omar Ahmed and Nausheen Gilkar of California, pressured her to abort after doctors found the left side of the fetus's heart was severely underdeveloped.
The state stepped in
Attorney General Ken Paxton intervened, and Judge Ashley Wysocki, a recent Abbott appointee, ordered two Dallas hospitals to treat the baby and keep him in Texas pending a ruling.
Parents named him Rumi
After the Aug. 12 birth, Ahmed and Gilkar got a restraining order keeping West from seeing or holding the child. In court they admitted considering abortion, then decided to continue.
The bottom line
A surrogate who gives birth in Texas does not gain parental rights over the child, and this one is now asking the U.S. Supreme Court to say otherwise.
