The US Supreme Court has rejected an emergency custody request from surrogate McKenna West, who refused to terminate a pregnancy after the unborn baby was diagnosed with a serious heart condition. Justice Elena Kagan declined West’s appeal on September 22, leaving a California ruling recognizing Omar Ahmed and Nausheen Gilkar as the child’s legal parents in place. West had asked the court for custody or conservatorship, arguing that the couple might not provide the medical treatment she believed the baby needed. Her attorneys also warned that she could lose access to information about the child’s condition and treatment if the appeal failed. The baby, called Rumi by the genetic parents and Gabriel by West, was born in Dallas on August 12 with hypoplastic left heart syndrome, a rare condition requiring multiple surgeries soon after birth.

The dispute began after a 20-week scan revealed the heart defect. Ahmed and Gilkar asked West to end the pregnancy, but she refused and traveled from Alaska to Texas, where abortion access is heavily restricted. In her Supreme Court filing, West said she learned there were treatment options and wanted to protect “this precious baby.” She later argued that she should retain custody because she feared the genetic parents would not pursue the care she considered necessary. Courts in both California and Texas ultimately rejected her custody claims. After the baby’s birth, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton became involved, and the infant underwent surgery after a court ordered medical treatment. Another order prevented West from seeing the child. Gilkar accused West of forcing the couple to move between doctors and states and said she was “trying to take him.” The Supreme Court gave no explanation for denying West’s emergency request