Parents Sue Surrogate Mother Over Refusal To Abort Baby

A 28-year-old surrogate mother in the United States is facing a lawsuit from the biological parents of a baby she carried after she refused their request to terminate the pregnancy following the discovery of a heart defect.

According to a report by TMZ on Thursday, Nasheen Gilkar and Omar Ahmed filed a countersuit against the surrogate, McKenna West, weeks before she gave birth to the baby in Texas.

Gilkar and Ahmed had agreed to pay West $60,000 to serve as their surrogate, with an abortion clause in their agreement allowing them to terminate the pregnancy if a foetal abnormality was discovered.

However, at about 20 weeks into the pregnancy, the baby was diagnosed with hypoplastic left heart syndrome, a rare and potentially life-threatening congenital heart defect.

Following the diagnosis, the intended parents asked West to terminate the pregnancy, but she refused.

West subsequently travelled to Texas, where she gave birth to the baby on August 12.

She named the child Gabriel, while Gilkar and Ahmed maintain that his name is Rumi.

The couple is seeking more than $100,000 in damages, alleging that West breached the terms of their agreement. They are also seeking unspecified damages over what they described as her “malicious, outrageous conduct.”

The intended parents, however, denied ever threatening to force West to undergo an abortion.

West’s lawyer, Lincoln Wilson, said Gilkar and Ahmed had not provided the surrogate with anything since she refused to terminate the pregnancy.

The dispute has now expanded into a legal battle over the child’s custody and parentage.

“She is seeking parentage of the child because she gave birth in Texas, and in Texas, if you give birth to a child, it’s your child,” Wilson told The Post.

However, reproductive law attorney Marla Neufeld previously told The Post that West has virtually no legal claim to the child.

West, who had previously been pregnant twice, said she chose to continue the pregnancy because she believed the baby deserved a chance to live despite his diagnosis.

“Every life matters. No woman should be forced to end the life of the baby she is carrying — including me … Baby Gabriel should receive a chance at life,” she said.

Hypoplastic left heart syndrome is a congenital heart defect in which the left side of the heart is severely underdeveloped. Babies born with the condition typically require multiple surgeries and may face lifelong medical care and serious health complications.