# Supreme Court stays out of surrogate custody battle

> A surrogate mother in Texas is fighting California parents over custody of a newborn with a serious heart condition.
- Title: Supreme Court stays out of surrogate custody battle · NBC News
- Summary: A surrogate mother in Texas is fighting California parents over custody of a newborn with a serious heart condition. The Supreme Court declined to intervene…
- Keywords: supreme court, surrogate mother, custody battle, heart defect, mckenna west, california, texas, newborn, medical care, surrogacy agreement, elena kagan, ken paxton
- Source: NBC News — https://nbcnews.com/politics/supreme-court/supreme-court-declines-intervene-custody-case-involving-newborn-heart-rcna597043
- Author: Dareh Gregorian
- Published: 2026-09-22T20:50:56.748+00:00
- Read time: 1 min
- Topics: supreme court, surrogate mother, custody battle, heart defect, mckenna west, california, texas, newborn, medical care, surrogacy agreement, elena kagan, ken paxton
## Surrogate refuses abortion request
McKenna West, a cardiac nurse, refused when genetic parents Omar Ahmed and Nausheen Gilkar asked her to abort the fetus after doctors diagnosed a serious heart defect.
## West flees to Texas with baby
After refusing to abort, West gave birth to the baby in Texas last month and filed for custody, arguing California denied her due process.
## Baby has life-threatening heart condition
The newborn has hypoplastic left heart syndrome, where one side of the heart is underdeveloped. The condition can quickly become fatal without treatment.
## Texas court sides with genetic parents
The Texas Supreme Court ruled last week that the baby should be moved to California, where the parents have medical care lined up. The court called sustaining the child's life the paramount concern.

> Sustaining the life of the medically fragile child is the paramount concern in this time-sensitive matter.
## Supreme Court declines to intervene
Justice Elena Kagan rejected West's emergency request for the Supreme Court to stop the custody transfer. Kagan issued no written decision on the denial.
## West claims she's kept in the dark
West says she's receiving no information about the baby's health and that the parents violated their surrogacy agreement by seeking custody in California instead of Alaska.

> Without relief, she will receive no further information about the child she carried for 37 weeks and fought to save.
## Key takeaway

The Supreme Court declined to intervene in a multistate custody dispute between a surrogate and genetic parents, leaving the baby in the parents' care in California.