A California couple who’d recruited a surrogate to give birth to their son testified in court on Tuesday against the surrogate.
As previously reported, California couple Omar Ahmed and Nausheen Gilkar paid surrogate McKenna West to give birth to their newborn. But when they later discovered that their then-unborn baby had hypoplastic left heart syndrome, they asked West to get an abortion.
West refused and instead traveled to Texas, a red state, to give birth to the boy on Wednesday, Aug. 12. West then named the boy Gabriel instead of what Gilkar and Ahmed wanted, which was Rumi. In addition, she launched a legal fight in an attempt to gain custody of the boy.
A surrogate mother defied the biological parents’ order to abort a baby diagnosed with a severe heart defect.
The woman, McKenna West, has now given birth to the baby, Gabriel.@Kerri_Kupec says baby Gabriel is in a Texas NICU, where doctors could soon perform potentially… pic.twitter.com/wFyGkXByRH
— Fox News (@FoxNews) August 13, 2026
On Tuesday, the Gilkars fought back in a Texas courtroom.
“He’s our child,” Nausheen said in court while wiping away tears, as reported by both ABC News and the New York Times.
She also attacked West, calling her “unstable.”
“She’s trying to take him from us,” Nausheen continued. “She’s making us run from state to state.”
West, who was also present in court, fired back by making the case that she deserved custody because it was her decision to have the baby that ensured that he was born at all.
“He is here and he has a birthday because of the fight I have put up,” she said. “I knew that this baby, despite the diagnosis, had a great chance at survival and a great chance at leading a long life.”
Court documents filed by the Gilkars’ attorney suggests otherwise, as they showed the baby boy to be “suffering from potential complications.”
Nausheen further explained in court that the boy has no blood flow to the left side of his heart, and that since receiving surgery, he’s repeatedly gasped for air and choked on tubes.
“He’s the most beautiful person I’ve never seen,” she insisted. “He’s the love of our lives. He’s suffering a lot.”
Today on @TMZLive … Surrogate Mckenna West’s baby Gabriel is in critical condition.
Details at 10:30am PT. pic.twitter.com/YLKoeDKoXc
— TMZ (@TMZ) August 25, 2026
West’s attorney pushed back by arguing that Nausheen and her husband haven’t committed to providing the boy with “life-saving care.” The attorney also brought up the fact that the couple had originally tried to abort the baby.
“Jeff Domen, an attorney for West, repeatedly pressed Gilkar on the couple’s desire to terminate the pregnancy, asking her to confirm that she requested it,” according to ABC News.
When asked if she regretted trying to abort the baby, Nausheen said that she didn’t.
“Would you trust somebody to care for your child that wanted your child dead?” West’s attorney then asked.
The hearing ended with judge Ashley Wysocki temporarily extending a restraining order requested by the Gilkars that prevents West from pretending to be the boy’s mother.
TMZ previously reported that the Gilkars sued West.
“In the suit, Nausheen and Omar are asking a judge to award them more than $100K in damages from McKenna for breaching the deal … plus unspecified damages for the ‘malicious, outrageous conduct’ they believe she committed,” according to the gossip network.
In the suit, they reportedly also admitted to having paid McKenna a whopping $60,000 for her surrogacy. More importantly, the couple noted in the suit that their surrogacy contract included an abortion clause which should have allowed them to terminate West’s pregnancy.
The suit further alleged that the California couple has suffered emotional distress because of West’s actions.
As noted earlier, West has been busy preparing her own legal battle in an attempt to gain custody of the newborn.
“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,” her attorney, Lincoln Wilson, told the New York Post.
Wilson also alleged that the California couple “haven’t given [West] anything” since she declined to abort the newborn.
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V. Saxena is a staff writer with a decade of experience as a professional writer, and a lifetime of experience as an avid news junkie. He holds a degree in computer technology from Purdue University. Saxena also contributes to BizPac Review.
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