Surrogate McKenna West gives birth as questions over the baby’s care remain unsettled
TheGrio...
McKenna West, the surrogate who declined to terminate her pregnancy, has given birth in the Dallas area as a multistate legal dispute over the baby continues.
The legal fight surrounding McKenna West’s pregnancy has changed dramatically as the baby at the center of the dispute has now been born.
West, an Alaska nurse who was serving as a surrogate for a California couple, delivered the boy Wednesday in the Dallas area, according to her attorney, Lincoln Wilson, who confirmed the birth to The Dallas Morning News. The delivery came roughly three weeks before West’s previously expected Sept. 2 due date.
The baby, whom West has called Gabriel, was diagnosed during pregnancy with hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS), a serious congenital heart defect affecting the development of the heart’s left side. The condition requires intensive medical treatment after birth.
That diagnosis triggered the dispute. West declined to terminate the pregnancy despite the intended parents’ request, citing her opposition to ending the pregnancy. She subsequently relocated from Alaska to Texas, where she sought care for the baby.
Now that Gabriel has been born, the legal questions have shifted from decisions surrounding the pregnancy to the newborn’s medical care, custody and legal parentage.
The Dallas Morning News reported that West is currently barred from seeing or caring for Gabriel under the circumstances of the ongoing legal proceedings. Wilson has indicated that West intends to pursue custody if the court permits it.
The intended parents’ attorney, Lee Budner, told the newspaper that his clients’ priority is ensuring the newborn receives the medical treatment he needs and that they are able to spend time with him.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton had already obtained an emergency court order requiring life-saving treatment for the baby after birth. That order was specifically limited to post-birth care and did not dictate medical decisions concerning West during her pregnancy.
With Gabriel now here, that distinction has become critical. The immediate medical concerns are no longer hypothetical, while the competing claims over who has authority to make decisions for the child remain before the courts.
The case is expected back in Dallas County later this month, as the courts confront an unusually complicated collision between surrogacy contracts, parental rights and medical decision-making.
For West and the intended parents, the dispute that began before Gabriel was born has entered its most consequential stage yet.