US Supreme Court Hands Black Surrogate Loss In Custody Fight

McKenna West’s fight over the baby she carried for another couple came to the end of the road (maybe) at the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday,  Reuters reports.

Justice Elena Kagan, who handles emergency appeals from California and other Western states, denied West’s request to block a California court ruling that declared Nausheen Gilkar and Omar Ahmed the legal parents of the infant boy McKenna delivered on Aug. 12. Kagan issued the order on her own and gave no explanation.

West, a Black nurse from Alaska, was hired as a surrogate by Gilkar and Ahmed, a Los Angeles couple of color. At 20 weeks, the baby was diagnosed with hypoplastic left heart syndrome, a serious cardiac condition. West says the couple pressured her to terminate the pregnancy under a fetal-abnormality clause in their contract. She refused, and as reported by NewsOne, traveled to Texas and gave birth in Dallas.

What followed was a national custody battle over a child who doesn’t even have one agreed-upon name, reports NewsOne. West calls him Gabriel; his parents call him Rumi.

In June, a California trial court ruled that Gilkar and Ahmed were the legal parents and rejected West’s argument that it had no jurisdiction over her, as she gave birth to the baby in abortion-hostile Texas. 

State appellate courts refused to pause that decision, which sent West to the Supreme Court. Her lawyers argued that because the California ruling was being enforced in Texas, she had been cut off from any authority over the child’s medical care. The couple countered in filings last Friday that they are committed to the same lifesaving treatment West says she wants for him. As of Friday, Sept. 19, the baby remained in a Texas hospital, where he is being treated for his heart condition.

The case has drawn powerful allies. West is represented by the Alliance Defending Freedom, the conservative legal group involved in the Dobbs case that overturned Roe v. Wade, and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton backed her earlier in the case.

As reported by NewsOne, in an op-ed I wrote last week:

Clearly, this is not a simple pro-life-versus-pro-choice morality play, though plenty of parties are trying to flatten it into one. This is a case where a Black woman’s body, labor, and judgment are being fought over by two people of color who are themselves navigating a legal and medical system that has never been particularly gentle with either of their communities.

The baby’s health has been central to the emotional testimony. As reported by NewsOne, Gilkar has described her son gasping for air and needing a blood transfusion after surgery.

For now, the ruling stands: Gilkar and Ahmed have full legal and medical authority over the baby, and West’s hope rests on the full Court agreeing to hear her case. Stay tuned. 

SEE ALSO:

Surrogate Gives Birth To Baby Biological Parents Wanted Aborted

Baby Born In Surrogate Dispute Is Now The Subject Of A Custody Battle

Surrogate Continues Custody Fight As Baby’s Condition Worsens [Op-Ed]