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Surrogate Dispute: Baby's First Surgery Amid Legal Battle
18 Aug
Summary
- Baby Rumi, born with a rare heart defect, had his first surgery last Monday.
- The child's parents and surrogate are locked in a custody dispute.
- Rumi's condition remains critical following the complex palliative surgery.
A baby born with a rare heart defect, identified as Rumi, has undergone the first of several necessary surgeries. The procedure, a Norwood procedure, was performed on Monday, August 17, 2026, according to the parents' attorney, Lee Budner. Rumi was born in Texas on Wednesday, August 12, 2026, with hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS), a condition requiring multiple complex surgeries.
The child's condition is currently critical, and his parents, Omar Ahmed and Nausheen Gilkar, are focused on his recovery and have requested privacy. This situation is complicated by an ongoing legal dispute with the surrogate, McKenna West, who has expressed her intention to seek custody of the child. West, who is from Alaska, refused the parents' request for an abortion when the defect was discovered months prior to Rumi's birth.
Texas authorities, including Attorney General Ken Paxton, intervened, securing court orders that mandate lifesaving care for the child and assign medical decision-making responsibilities to the parents. Consequently, West has been denied contact with Rumi since his birth. Her attorney maintains that Texas law designates the birth mother as the legal parent. Budner stated that West's claims for custody are baseless and in violation of court orders from Alaska and California.
