Newborn with heart condition at center of surrogacy legal fight has surgery

A baby with a serious heart condition who was the center of a multistate legal fight involving a surrogate who said she refused to terminate the pregnancy underwent surgery Monday, the lawyer representing the child’s biological parents said.

McKenna West gave birth to Rumi on Wednesday in Texas. The child was diagnosed with a rare congenital heart condition, hypoplastic left heart syndrome, in utero. It is a defect resulting from the underdevelopment of the organ.

West has alleged that the biological parents repeatedly pressured her to have an abortion.

A response the couple’s attorney filed in Alaska alleges that West was “clear and knowing in her intention to abide by” the parents’ request for a termination if tests revealed a fetal abnormality.

Before the child was born, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, an anti-abortion Republican running for the Senate, intervened and filed a motion asking the Texas state court to order doctors to perform surgery on the child. He alleged that the biological parents might refuse to provide the baby with lifesaving care — which the parents have denied.

The parents’ attorney accused Paxton of transforming their tragedy into “political theater” and said the parents always placed the health of their baby first.

Rumi on Monday underwent a Norwood procedure, “a complex palliative heart surgery,” Lee Budner, attorney for biological parents Omar Ahmed and Nausheen Gilkar, said in a statement.

“Rumi is now recuperating under the loving care of his parents and his heroic team of doctors, nurses, and medical staff,” Budner said in a statement.

The Norwood procedure is one of three operations required in the first several years of life for a baby with the syndrome, known as HLHS, Budner said.

“This is the last update on Rumi’s health that his family intends to share,” Budner said. “His condition remains critical and complex, and his family seeks privacy in caring for their son on his long road to recovery.”

Ahmed and Gilkar have denied that they ever sought to refuse care for their child, saying they made plans for treatment in California.

In a court filing, the biological parents said they respected that West, whom they met as a surrogate through an agency, refused to go through with an abortion.

HLHS often requires lifelong care, and many babies born with it develop disabilities or do not survive. About 925 babies in the U.S. are born with the condition every year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Budner said West is continuing claims for custody, which he called “baseless” and “in violation of multiple court orders out of both Alaska and California.”

“We look forward to quickly defeating those claims as Rumi’s parents continue to focus on his health and safety above all else,” Budner said.