A Texas surrogate baby custody dispute escalated on Wednesday, 12 August 2026, when a boy claimed by both a California couple and their surrogate was born in Dallas.
Nausheen Gilkar and Omar Ahmed, the intended and biological parents, live in California; surrogate McKenna West is from Alaska, as reported by CBS News.
Their filings name the boy Rumi, while West’s side and Texas officials use Gabriel.
What led to the Texas surrogate baby custody dispute
The baby was diagnosed at about 20 weeks with hypoplastic left heart syndrome, a defect in which the left side of the heart is underdeveloped. It has no cure and requires repeated operations from birth.
Lee Budner, an attorney for Gilkar and Ahmed, said the couple decided to end the pregnancy after consulting doctors. He said West agreed and made the abortion appointment, then changed her mind and cut contact.
Lincoln Wilson, an attorney for West, rejected the description of a forced abortion, saying the couple pressed his client towards a termination after the diagnosis and that she refused to end the life she carried.
“She described it as fear because basically she was going to be asked to do something to the child that she carried that was fundamentally offensive to her, and she couldn’t imagine ending the life of the child that she carried inside her.”
Court orders in the Texas surrogate baby custody dispute
West travelled to Texas before the birth, where Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton intervened on her side and secured a Dallas court order that the baby receive life-saving care after birth and remain in the state.
A separate order gave Gilkar and Ahmed, already declared the child’s legal parents by a California court, authority over his medical decisions, and barred West from presenting herself as his mother.
Budner said the newborn was with his parents.
“Our clients’ son was born yesterday morning and he is now in their physical custody while he receives expert medical care at a tertiary care center. Thankfully, McKenna West’s baseless attempt to interfere with his medical care has been soundly rejected by the courts.”
The couple’s legal team also objected to how the case has been handled publicly.
Budner said the family were dealing with a serious diagnosis and had watched it drawn into a political argument in Texas.
“As if the heartbreak of his condition were not enough, they are devastated to see their family tragedy transformed into political theater by the Texas Attorney General’s office and McKenna West.”
What happens next in the surrogate custody dispute
Wilson said West has no access to the child and intends to keep contesting custody, pursuing the matter in Texas on the argument that state law makes the woman who gives birth the legal mother.
“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.”
The case returns to court on Tuesday, 25 August 2026, when West’s challenge to the parentage orders is due to be heard.
Until then the boy stays in Texas under the order requiring his treatment.
