Supreme Court Declines to Intervene in Surrogate-Parents Custody Dispute Over Newborn

A custody dispute over a newborn born via surrogacy reached the U.S. Supreme Court, which on September 22-23, 2026, declined to intervene. Justice Elena Kagan denied an emergency request from McKenna West, an Alaska nurse and surrogate, who sought to halt a California court order recognizing Omar Ahmed and Nausheen Gilkar, a California couple, as the child's legal parents. The child, now four to five weeks old, was born with a serious heart defect. According to multiple reports, the couple at one point asked West to have an abortion after the heart defect was discovered during pregnancy. West refused and traveled to Texas, where abortion is illegal, to give birth. A California court subsequently issued an order recognizing Ahmed and Gilkar as the baby's legal parents, which West sought to overturn through an emergency appeal to the Supreme Court. Kagan's denial of that request left the California court's parentage order in place. The Supreme Court's action means the custody matter remains subject to the lower court proceedings rather than federal intervention. It is unresolved which state's courts will ultimately adjudicate the broader custody dispute, given the multistate nature of the case spanning Alaska, California, and Texas. Details regarding the baby's current custody arrangement, medical condition, and any further legal steps by West were not specified in available reporting.