A critically ill newborn caught in the middle of a contentious surrogacy custody dispute has been put back on a breathing tube after his condition deteriorated following open-heart surgery, according to new court filings.
Intended parents Nausheen Gilkar and Omar Ahmed said in documents obtained by TMZ that the infant remains in critical condition and is under close hospital monitoring.
The couple said the baby appeared to suffer complications after undergoing a Norwood procedure, a complex surgery performed to address his severe heart defect. After his condition worsened overnight, doctors re-intubated him, the filings state.
McKenna West, center, walks with her legal team at a Dallas family court hearing in the legal fight over a critically ill newborn. (LM Otero/AP Photo)
The dispute returned to a Dallas courtroom Tuesday, where Gilkar and Ahmed faced surrogate McKenna West in a fight over who should control the newborn’s medical care. The case has drawn national scrutiny after West said she declined the California couple’s earlier request to end the pregnancy once the baby was diagnosed with a life-threatening heart condition.
Gilkar and Ahmed refer to the child as Rumi. West, a cardiac nurse from Alaska, calls him Gabriel and is asking a Texas judge to grant her sole conservatorship, a ruling that would give her authority over medical decisions.
California couple Nausheen Gilkar, center, and Omar Ahmed, right, arrive for a hearing over custody and medical decision-making for their newborn son. (LM Otero/AP Photo)
Gilkar testified that she and Ahmed have remained by their son’s bedside as he undergoes treatment. Since the surgery, she said, he has had difficulty breathing, choked on tubes and required a blood transfusion, according to courtroom reporting by The Associated Press.
“He’s our child,” Gilkar said, according to the AP.
She accused West of trying to take him away. “She’s trying to take him from us,” Gilkar said.
Gilkar described the newborn as “the love of our lives” and said, “He’s suffering a lot.”
McKenna West arrives at a Dallas court hearing over the custody dispute. (LM Otero/AP Photo)
The custody feud began after the baby was diagnosed at about 20 weeks with hypoplastic left heart syndrome, or HLHS. West says Gilkar and Ahmed then asked her to terminate the pregnancy. She refused and later traveled to Texas to give birth, News Outlet previously reported.
HLHS leaves one side of the heart underdeveloped and disrupts normal blood flow. Without treatment, the condition can be fatal within days or weeks, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
McKenna West, left, appears with attorneys at Dallas family court amid a custody dispute with the intended parents of the baby she carried. (LM Otero/AP Photo)
Budner disputes key parts of West’s account and says the couple did agree to the baby’s treatment. He told News Outlet that doctors determined on Aug. 14 that the child was eligible for the Norwood procedure, the first of three open-heart surgeries generally used to treat HLHS.
Gilkar and Ahmed consented to the surgery, which was performed Aug. 17, he said. At the time, Budner described the baby’s condition as “critical and complex.”
McKenna West arrives for a Dallas court hearing in the surrogate custody dispute. (LM Otero/AP Photo)
West’s lawyers have argued that the court should make sure the baby continues to receive life-saving care. West told the judge she would abandon her custody request if the court determines the intended parents are committed to that care, according to the AP.
Gilkar and Ahmed have asked the court to delay a hearing over the temporary restraining order that gave them custody while the legal fight continues, TMZ reported.
The custody battle is only one part of the couple’s broader legal fight with West.
Before the baby was born, Gilkar and Ahmed filed counterclaims seeking more than $100,000, alleging West breached their surrogacy agreement and caused them emotional distress. The counterclaims, obtained by TMZ, said the couple paid West $60,000 during the pregnancy under an agreement that addressed termination. West has denied wrongdoing and asked the court to dismiss the claims.
The dispute has only grown more personal since the baby’s Aug. 12 birth. West said in a New York Post opinion piece last week that she had only about a minute with the newborn, while his umbilical cord was still attached, before he was taken away. A court order has since barred her from seeing or holding the baby.
On Tuesday, the judge left that order in place and did not immediately decide the larger question of custody or conservatorship, according to the AP.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton secured an emergency court order before the birth directing that medically necessary care not be delayed or obstructed, News Outlet previously reported. Paxton’s office also notified two Dallas medical centers of their obligations to provide life-saving treatment.
