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After fleeing to another state with another set of legal considerations, surrogate McKenna West has given birth.
Hers is an odd story that seems pretty miserable for everyone involved.
Flouting her contract and fleeing to another state, West hoped that she’d be recognized as the birth mother.
The parents are suing her as they prepare to give their newborn son a series of major surgeries. And yes, they’re facing off in court in a fairly unique clash of inter-state law.
What is McKenna West’s story?
West was a surrogate — specifically, a gestational carrier — from Alaska.
(Gestational carriers are implanted with an embryo from another couple, but are colloquially referred to as “surrogates” by most folks.)
She had agreed to go through a pregnancy for a couple who live in California.
Part of the surrogacy agreement contained a clause allowing the couple — the parents-to-be — to terminate the pregnancy if prenatal testing uncovered any anomalies, just as they would have had one of them been pregnant.
This is all pretty standard fare for a surrogacy arrangement and contract. But, as you can imagine, this is where it all went awry.
At the 20 week scan, doctors discovered that the fetus had hypoplastic left heart syndrome.
HLHS is a rare birth defect. The left side of the heart is severely underdeveloped and incapable of aiding in a healthy circulatory system.
Treatments are drastic and involve three major heart surgeries.
The Norwood procedure takes place within days of birth. The Glenn procedure is performed upon the infant several months later. At around preschool age, patients must undergo the Fontan procedure.
Heart surgeries upon a baby or small child are traumatic and carry major risks. Even those who undergo all three treatments face major risks, with 30% not even surviving childhood to become adults.
What will the courts decide? This case involves three states, two parents, and a surrogate (and some political theater for Ken Paxton)
When the parents-to-be learned of this diagnosis, they made the difficult decision to trigger the clause and terminate the pregnancy.
But that is not what happened.
Instead, West refused. She also fled to Texas, where she hopes that local laws would consider her to be the “birth mother” even though the child is not hers genetically.
Her due date was on September 2, but she gave birth on Wednesday, August 12, in the Dallas area.
West also took the audacious step of naming the child, selecting “Gabriel” for a child who is in a legal gray area.
As you can imagine, the baby’s parents are feeling several emotions after this roller coaster.
“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,” their attorney told The Dallas Morning News.
The parents are (obviously) suing West. They are due in court later this month. In the meantime, West is at least not allowed to see or care for their child.
Her attorney has expressed that she has considered taking the child if the court finds that she is allowed to.
It sounds like this is a classic case of breach of contract, but with a lot of personal pain and a very real chance that the parents will end up losing their child — whatever they may name him — in the coming decade or so.
We will hope for the best for a family that has already been through so much as they face both the medical and legal hurdles to come.
McKenna West Gives Birth in Texas; Rogue Surrogate Sued by The Parents was originally published on The Hollywood Gossip.