A surrogate who declined to terminate a pregnancy against the wishes of the child’s biological parents gave birth early Wednesday, according to her attorney.
McKenna West has been at the center of a heated, multi-state dispute involving surrogacy, parental rights and abortion after the fetus she was carrying was diagnosed with a serious but treatable congenital heart defect.
West, whose due date had been Sept. 2, delivered the baby boy Wednesday in the Dallas area, attorney Lincoln Wilson told The Dallas Morning News. She named the newborn Gabriel.
Gabriel is expected to receive urgent, life-saving treatment for hypoplastic left heart syndrome, Wilson said.
But under a court order tied to the ongoing legal fight, West is not permitted to see or hold the newborn.
The dispute began in April, when doctors diagnosed the fetus at 20 weeks with hypoplastic left heart syndrome, or HLHS, a severe condition affecting the development of the left side of the heart.
The surrogacy agreement between West and the biological parents included language allowing for termination if an “anomaly” was detected during the pregnancy.
After the diagnosis, the couple asked West to pursue an abortion.
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West, a single mom of two, refused to terminate the pregnancy and instead traveled to Texas where she would be recognized as the birth mother under state law.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton had filed a petition urging doctors to give the baby life-saving care upon his birth to stop him from being taken out of the state which was granted Tuesday.
The emergency court order requires two Dallas hospitals to provide critical care to the baby, which includes intensive treatment and at least one surgery.
Newborns diagnosed with HLHS require surgery almost immediately after birth in order to survive beyond their first week.
However, if Gabriel does eventually leave the hospital, it is not immediately clear what the legal outcome will be.
While a separate court order is prohibiting her from currently seeing the baby, West would consider taking the child if the courts permit, according to her attorney.
West’s legal team believes that the termination clause within the surrogacy contract, while standard, is “offensive to state and federal law,” according to The Dallas Morning News.
“The law doesn’t permit hit man contracts,” Wilson said. “And this is a hit man contract.”
The California couple, who are suing West, were slated to appear in a Dallas County court on Aug. 25.
