An Alaska surrogate is refusing to end a pregnancy after doctors diagnosed the baby with a severe but treatable heart defect, setting off a bitter legal fight with the child’s biological parents. The baby, Gabriel, is due in September and may need heart surgery almost immediately after birth.
The dispute has moved through Alaska Superior Court and a California appellate court, according to court documents reviewed by New York Post. The surrogate, McKenna West, says she will take full responsibility for the child if the parents agree to pursue surgery, while A.B. and C.D. are seeking parental rights.
A Prenatal Diagnosis Turned The Agreement Upside Down
West, an Alaska nurse and single mother of two, learned around the 20th week of pregnancy that Gabriel had hypoplastic left heart syndrome, a congenital condition in which the left side of the heart is severely underdeveloped. The lawsuit says Alaska doctors would not perform an abortion, after which the biological parents allegedly demanded that West travel to Seattle for the procedure.
The surrogacy agreement reportedly contains an abortion-on-demand clause, but the parties now sharply disagree over what happened next. West’s complaint says she declined an amniocentesis because she feared losing her payment, while the parents contend the baby’s eligibility for surgery cannot be determined without that prenatal test, the Post reported.
HLHS Is Serious, But Treatment Is Available
Hypoplastic left heart syndrome is a critical congenital heart defect, but it is not automatically a death sentence. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says babies with HLHS generally need surgery soon after birth, often through a series of staged procedures that reroute blood flow around the underdeveloped left side of the heart.
The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia describes the condition as often fatal without early intervention, while noting that modern treatment can include the Norwood, Glenn and Fontan operations. That medical reality is at the center of West’s argument that Gabriel should be given a chance at treatment rather than being denied care before he is born.
Surrogate Offers To Give Up Rights If Surgery Is Guaranteed
West has offered to renounce any parental rights and absolve A.B. and C.D. of financial and custodial responsibilities if they promise to obtain surgery for Gabriel. The parents rejected that condition and, according to the filings, accused West of distorting the situation and seeking their money.
West also claims the couple threatened to sue her for $250,000, a judgment she says could bankrupt her. The parents are fighting to obtain parental rights, while West says she is not trying to keep the child for herself and instead wants written assurance that he will receive life-saving care.
West has since left Alaska for Texas to seek delivery at a hospital specializing in pediatric cardiac cases. That kind of cross-country planning is familiar to some Alaska families: Alaska’s News Source previously reported on an Alaska boy with HLHS whose family repeatedly traveled to Texas for treatment.
The Court Fight Pits Contract Terms Against Medical Decisions
The legal questions appear to extend beyond the abortion dispute itself. The courts may have to weigh the surrogacy contract, competing claims over parental status and the authority to make medical decisions for a child who has not yet been born.
The case also presents an unusual split in the parties’ positions: the biological parents want legal control over Gabriel, while the surrogate says she would surrender her own parental claims if they agree to pursue surgery. With Gabriel’s due date approaching, the medical timeline may force the courts to confront those questions quickly.
The case arrives as other courts are wrestling with the fallout from complicated surrogacy arrangements. In a separate Florida dispute, another surrogate custody fight involved children left in legal limbo after the intended parent failed to take custody, though that case does not involve a prenatal heart diagnosis or an abortion demand.
Gabriel is due to be born on September 3, and the lawsuit remains active. For now, West is asking the courts to let the pregnancy continue and to protect the possibility of immediate cardiac treatment after delivery.
