McKenna West, 28, has referred to the newborn as Gabriel, while California couple Nausheen Gilkar and Omar Ahmed call their son Rumi. The pair are seeking more than $100,000 in damages as part of a wider dispute over the surrogacy agreement, with TMZ reporting they claim she breached the deal by using a different name.
Nickname Dispute
McKenna insists Gabriel was simply a nickname and that she did nothing to stop the couple from having Rumi placed on his birth certificate. She argues the agreement allowed the parents to "name any child born" under it and required her to have that name "placed on such child's birth certificate".
She has also claimed she used the nickname to protect the baby's privacy and said a California judge told both sides not to refer to him as Gabriel or Rumi because it could be "triggering to both sides".
Background of the Legal Battle
The row is the latest turn in a legal dispute which began after McKenna agreed last August to carry a child for Nausheen and Omar through Worldwide Surrogacy Specialists LLC. During the pregnancy, the baby was diagnosed with hypoplastic left heart syndrome, a rare condition in which the left side of the heart does not develop properly and which usually requires a series of operations shortly after birth.
McKenna's attorneys claimed Nausheen and Omar then pressured her for weeks to terminate the pregnancy. The couple, however, alleged in court papers that she had initially agreed to an abortion before changing her mind and stopping communication with them. Their surrogacy agreement also contained a clause requiring West to terminate the pregnancy in the event of an 'anomaly'. But she ultimately decided to continue with the pregnancy.
Dispute Over Birth Location
A further dispute then emerged over where the baby should be born and receive treatment. The baby's biological parents wanted McKenna to give birth in California so their son could begin specialist cardiac care in Los Angeles. They claimed she was 'harming Rumi by relocating to Texas, requiring him to be born in Texas, away from his parents and the specialized cardiac team in Los Angeles that will provide his lifelong care,' the AP reported.
McKenna arranged to travel to Texas after finding a hospital which she said had recorded a 100 percent success rate in recent years for the first of the three surgeries the baby was expected to need. She was later put in touch with Lila Rose, founder and president of anti-abortion group Live Action, who offered to help her get to Texas.
Intervention and Current Status
The case also drew the intervention of Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who said his office was stepping in to "protect baby Gabriel's life". Paxton accused the couple of refusing to consent to life-saving treatment. An associate judge later issued a temporary restraining order preventing anyone from withholding or obstructing necessary treatment for the newborn. The same order also prevented McKenna from having any contact with the baby after his birth. The child has since undergone the Norwood procedure, the first major operation commonly used to treat hypoplastic left heart syndrome.
Lee Budner, the couple's attorney, said the newborn was "now recuperating under the loving care of his parents and his heroic team of doctors, nurses and medical staff." "This is the last update on Rumi's health that his family intends to share," he added, "His condition remains critical and complex, and his family seeks privacy in caring for their son on his long road to recovery."
McKenna said that her "focus has always been on protecting this precious baby's life." She later said: "It was great to hear that he received the first of the three necessary surgeries yesterday." "What matters most now is making sure he gets the life-saving care he will need in the coming months, care that the other side is currently fighting in court for their ability to withhold," she continued, "My focus therefore remains on protecting his life."
