Surrogate McKenna West is seeking public donations to cover her expenses and legal costs as she engages in a custody dispute over a child whose biological parents allegedly failed to uphold their end of a surrogacy agreement. A GiveSendGo campaign, created by a friend, had raised over $66,000 as of Friday to assist West.
West, a 28-year-old nurse from Alaska, traveled to Dallas, Texas, to give birth to the son of Nausheen Gilkar and Omar Ahmed of Los Angeles. The child was born on Wednesday. According to her attorney, Lincoln Wilson, the biological parents had requested West terminate the pregnancy around 20 weeks after the baby was diagnosed with a treatable heart condition, hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS). West refused the request and traveled to Texas, where state law recognizes her as the birth mother.
"She has lost the payments she was relying on and is now facing the possibility of being sued for all money paid to her – or on her behalf – since the beginning of her surrogacy journey," the fundraiser states. The page also notes that West has relocated away from home, taken time off work, and continues to incur expenses in Alaska.
Wilson claims that the intended parents "haven’t given [West] anything" since asking her to terminate the pregnancy, despite a contract clause allowing them to seek an abortion if an anomaly was discovered. He alleged that an attorney involved in the surrogacy agreement warned West of a potential $250,000 fine if she did not terminate the pregnancy, an assertion he interprets as intense pressure from the other side.
Conversely, Gilkar and Ahmed have stated in court documents that West initially agreed to terminate the pregnancy but later changed her mind, accusing them of coercion. They deny this allegation. The parents reportedly decided to proceed with the birth, naming the child Rumi, and planned for him to receive lifelong treatment in California.
West, who has two children, previously described her motivation for becoming a surrogate in July as a way to earn extra income for her family while providing a child to a family. "I thought [being a surrogate] would be a really awesome way to make extra income for my family, not have to take extra time away from my kids, and get to provide a family the amazing gift of having a child," she told Live Action News.
The situation has evolved into a multi-state legal and financial conflict. West is not only fighting for custody but also seeking to recover financial losses estimated by her lawyer to be "in excess of tens of thousands of dollars." Wilson expressed frustration that the other party seeks to enforce contract rights without fulfilling payment obligations.
A California court has already ruled that Gilkar and Ahmed are the child's legal parents. However, Wilson indicated his team is prepared to pursue the custody case to the Supreme Court, asserting, "She is the mother."