A 28-year-old surrogate mother in the United States is facing a lawsuit from the biological parents of a baby she carried after she refused their request to terminate the pregnancy following the discovery of a serious heart defect.
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According to a report by TMZ on Thursday, Nasheen Gilkar and Omar Ahmed filed a countersuit against McKenna West weeks before she gave birth to their baby in Texas.
Gilkar and Ahmed had agreed to pay West $60,000 to serve as a surrogate, with an abortion clause in their agreement allowing them to terminate the pregnancy if problems with the foetus were discovered, according to the lawsuit.
However, at about 20 weeks into the pregnancy, the baby was diagnosed with hypoplastic left heart syndrome, a rare and life-threatening congenital heart defect.
The intended parents subsequently requested that West terminate the pregnancy, but she refused.
West instead travelled to Texas, where she gave birth to the baby on August 12.
She named the child Gabriel, while the biological parents insist that his name is Rumi.
Gilkar and Ahmed are seeking more than $100,000 in damages, alleging that West breached their agreement. They are also seeking unspecified damages over what they described as her “malicious, outrageous conduct.”
The intended parents, however, denied ever threatening to force West to undergo an abortion.
West’s lawyer, Lincoln Wilson, said Gilkar and Ahmed had not provided her with anything since she refused to terminate the pregnancy.
The surrogate is now preparing for a legal battle over custody and parentage of the child.
“She is seeking parentage of the child because she gave birth in Texas, and in Texas, if you give birth to a child, it’s your child,” Wilson told The Post.
However, reproductive law attorney Marla Neufeld previously told The Post that West has virtually no legal claim to the child.
West, who had two previous pregnancies, said she believed the baby should be allowed to live despite the diagnosis.
“Every life matters. No woman should be forced to end the life of the baby she is carrying — including me … Baby Gabriel should receive a chance at life,” she said.
Hypoplastic left heart syndrome is a congenital heart defect that requires multiple surgeries and can leave survivors facing lifelong medical care and potentially serious health complications.
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