The surrogate who refused to terminate her pregnancy defying the wishes of the baby’s biological parents fears the child will be moved out of Texas – as she continues to lobby the Supreme Court to intervene in the bitter custody dispute.
McKenna West, 28, filed a motion with the nation’s highest court last week amid fears Los Angeles couple Nasheen Gilkar and Omar Ahmed could try to take the baby, who was born with a serious heart defect, out of a Dallas hospital as soon as Thursday.
But on Monday the nurse’s lawyers filed an updated brief to the Supreme Court, calling for greater urgency.
“That date appears to have been too conservative and an administrative stay is now needed by 1:00 EST tomorrow,” West’s lawyers said in the filing seen by The Post.
West turned to the Supreme Court to halt a California court order that recognizes Gilkar and Ahmed as the baby’s parents, a decision also upheld by a Texas judge who ruled she couldn’t make decisions relating to his treatment and care.
The guardian ad litem, who was appointed to represent the baby’s interests, “filed an emergency motion to immediately modify that court’s order for lifesaving care,” Monday’s filing states.
West, a single mom from Alaska, called for an immediate stay “to preserve the child’s life.”
West is calling for full custody or conservatorship because she believes Gilkar and Ahmed will not provide life-saving care to the baby whom she calls Gabriel and they call Rumi.
Her lawyers said “future care for Baby G. is uncertain and unknowable” after the California court order was upheld.
West has even vowed to abandon her custody bid if she could be assured the baby would receive the appropriate care, according to her lawyers.
But her lawyer claims the couple have repeatedly “refused” to make that commitment.
The baby was born on Aug. 12 with hypoplastic left heart syndrome – a life threatening condition that prevents normal blood flow to the organ.
Newborns diagnosed with HLHS require surgery almost immediately after birth in order to survive past their first week.
The baby was diagnosed with the condition in April – around 20 weeks into West’s pregnancy and it was unexpected.
“Everything had been going great,” West previously told Live Action News.
“There had been no signs of anything being wrong. All genetic testing was normal.”
Gilkar and Ahmed agreed to pay West $60,000 to carry the child – but the surrogacy contract contained a clause that allowed terminations if there was an “anomaly” during the pregnancy.
West couldn’t go through with the abortion and fled to Texas, where the procedure is illegal.
She just wants the baby to receive the treatment needed for his heart condition, but the couple are suing her for at least $100,000.
And Gilkar has even accused West of trying to snatch their baby.
“She’s making us run from doctor to doctor, state to state. With our baby — she’s trying to take him,” she told a Dallas court last month.
“He’s the most beautiful person I’ve ever seen. He’s the love of our lives.”
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