According to reports, a surrogate gave birth early on Wednesday amid a contentious legal dispute with the intended parents after refusing to terminate the child she was carrying in defiance of the boy’s biological parents’ wishes.
An Alaskan surrogate named McKenna West was carrying a child for a couple from California. According to Boston Children’s Hospital, the fetus’s 20-week examination revealed that it had hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS), a rare birth abnormality in which the left side of the heart does not form correctly. This condition requires three surgeries to treat when the baby is born.
A provision in the surrogacy agreement gave the couple the option to end the pregnancy if a “anomaly” was discovered. However, according to The Dallas Morning News, McKenna refused and ran away to Texas, where she would be recognized as the birth mother.
Her lawyer, Lincoln Wilson, told Dallas Morning News that although she was scheduled to give birth on September 2, the baby boy, whom she called Gabriel, was born on Wednesday in the Dallas region.
Lee Budner, the intended parents’ lawyer, told the outlet:
“Our clients’ only focus at this time is ensuring that their baby receives the medical care that he vitally needs and that they, as his parents, are able to spend every precious moment they can with him.”
The court date for the intended parents’ lawsuit against McKenna is later this month. The outcome of this unusual multi-state judicial dispute is unknown.
