Court records released following the birth of baby Gabriel have revealed the full financial details of the surrogacy arrangement between McKenna West and the biological parents who asked her to terminate the pregnancy, shedding new light on a legal battle that has gripped the United States.
West, a 28-year-old nurse from Alaska and single mother of two, signed a surrogacy agreement with California couple Omar Ahmed and Nausheen Gilkar in August 2025. The contract, reported by the Daily Mail, included a base payment of $6,000 per month across ten months of pregnancy. On top of that, West was entitled to an additional $5,000 if a caesarean section was required, $500 upon signing the contract, and a $300 monthly living allowance. The biological parents also agreed to cover the cost of any medical tests, examinations or procedures, as well as any lost wages related to the pregnancy.
Further payments included $3,000 once the pregnancy was confirmed viable, and $10,000 per additional fetus in the event of a multiple pregnancy. A $2,000 payment was also stipulated in the event of termination.
That termination clause became the crux of the dispute. When the baby was diagnosed with hypoplastic left heart syndrome at the 20-week scan, a serious but treatable heart condition affecting the left side of the heart, Ahmed and Gilkar requested West terminate the pregnancy under the anomaly clause in the contract. West initially made an appointment but ultimately refused to go through with it and fled to Texas, where abortion is effectively banned.
According to court documents, the biological parents ceased all payments to West in May following her decision to decline the termination. She is now facing the possibility of being sued for all money paid to her or on her behalf since the beginning of the surrogacy arrangement, according to a friend who has set up a fundraiser on her behalf.
Baby Gabriel, referred to as Rumi by the biological parents in legal filings, was born in Dallas on August 12, two weeks early, and is currently receiving life-saving NICU care in the custody of Ahmed and Gilkar. A Texas court order prevents West from having any contact with the baby, making medical decisions on his behalf, or representing herself as his parent. She is challenging those orders and intends to fight for custody, with her attorney arguing that Texas law recognises the woman who gives birth as the mother of the child.
A court hearing is scheduled for August 25.
