{
  "id": 6812135,
  "title": "Surrogate who refused abortion over heart defect takes custody battle to US Supreme Court",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/11/surrogate-who-refused-abortion-over-heart-defect-takes-custody-battle-6812135",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-09-11T22:19:56.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "KahawaTungu",
    "slug": "kahawatungu",
    "url": "https://kahawatungu.com/surrogate-who-refused-abortion-over-heart-defect-takes-custody-battle-to-us-supreme-court/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "A woman named McKenna West, who was hired by a couple to act as a surrogate and later refused their request for an abortion, has now taken the custody dispute over the resulting baby to the United States Supreme Court. The California couple, Omar Ahmed and Nausheen Gilkar, had hired West to abort the pregnancy due to the fetus's severe heart defect, but West instead gave birth to the child in Texas, where abortion is highly restricted. The baby, named Rumi, has hypoplastic left heart syndrome, which often necessitates multiple surgeries with limited curative potential and can lead to lifelong complications. After West delivered the baby, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton intervened and secured an emergency court order to ensure the infant received medical care. West maintains that the biological parents should not have custody, citing concerns about their willingness to provide the necessary medical attention, as they had initially sought to abort the baby after learning of its life-threatening condition. Despite Rumi's biological parents' insistence that she is \"our child\" and \"the love of our lives,\" a previous court ruling granted parental rights to the couple. The California couple's lawyer recently stated that the infant is in critical condition and facing potential complications. West's legal team argues that without Supreme Court intervention, she would lose access to vital information about the child's medical status.",
  "summary": "A surrogate who denied requests from the parents who hired her to have an abortion has asked the US Supreme Court to intervene in the dispute over who should have custody of the baby. McKenna West filed an emergency appeal asking the court to halt a previous ruling granting parental rights to California couple Omar [...] The post Surrogate who refused abortion over heart defect takes custody…",
  "key_points": [
    "McKenna West, surrogate, refused abortion due to fetus's heart defect",
    "California couple Omar Ahmed and Nausheen Gilkar sought abortion, court granted custody",
    "Supreme Court case pending, West's legal team seeks access to medical information"
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": "https://urgent.news/ill/6812135.png",
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 4,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "BBC News",
        "title": "Surrogate who refused abortion over heart defect takes custody battle to US Supreme Court",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/11/surrogate-who-refused-abortion-over-heart-defect-takes-custody-battle",
        "published": "2026-09-11T17:55:06.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "MyJoyOnline Ghana",
        "title": "Surrogate who refused abortion over heart defect takes custody battle to US Supreme Court",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/11/surrogate-who-refused-abortion-over-heart-defect-takes-custody-battle-6793796",
        "published": "2026-09-11T19:11:33.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "The Hill",
        "title": "Surrogate who fled to Texas to avoid abortion appeals custody case to Supreme Court",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/12/surrogate-who-fled-to-texas-to-avoid-abortion-appeals-custody-case-to",
        "published": "2026-09-12T16:53:39.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}