US Supreme Court denies surrogate's bid to block California parentage ruling
The brief order leaves the California parentage ruling in place, preserving medical authority for the parents as the 5-week-old remains hospitalized.
- On Thursday, the Texas Supreme Court rejected Alaskan surrogate McKenna West's attempt to keep the medically fragile 1-month-old she delivered, clearing the way for biological parents Nausheen Gilkar and Omar Ahmed to transfer Rumi to a Los Angeles hospital.
- After learning at about 20 weeks that the fetus had a severe heart defect, Gilkar and Ahmed asked West to terminate the pregnancy, but West refused and moved to Texas, later seeking sole conservatorship to make medical decisions instead of the parents.
- Guardian ad litem Susan Duesler testified that doctors recommend the child's remaining surgeries be performed in Los Angeles, warning that delaying transfer would create "much more complicated treatment" for the baby after his mid-August heart surgery.
- Last week, West asked the U.S. Supreme Court to strip the parents' right to control Rumi's medical care while pursuing her custody request in Texas courts, but attorneys for Gilkar and Ahmed argue the move could jeopardize treatment by creating confusion over medical decision-making authority.
- The case illustrates a fundamental tension in surrogacy law between a woman's bodily autonomy during pregnancy and the legal rights of biological parents after birth, raising difficult questions about whether surrogacy contracts governing those decisions should be enforceable.
176 Articles
176 Articles
U.S. Supreme Court turns down surrogate McKenna West’s request to intervene in custody case
McKenna West, the surrogate who chose not to terminate her pregnancy against the biological parents’ wishes, faced a setback from the U.S. Supreme Court on September 22. She had urgently requested the court’s involvement in a complex custody dispute. However, Justice Elana Kagan rejected West’s final attempt to gain control over the baby’s care, without...
Justice Elena Kagan guides Supreme Court away from high-profile surrogacy battle, declines emergency bid to intervene in custody fight
On Tuesday, September 22, Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan rejected an emergency request from a surrogate seeking intervention in a custody dispute after the biological parents told her to get an abortion and she instead traveled to Texas to give birth. Elena Kagan’s one-sentence order Elena Kagan denied the emergency request in a one-sentence order. BY: MEGA McKenna West asked the Supreme Court to lift a California court’s parentage judgment i…
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