Kagan Rejects Surrogate’s Bid to Block Parentage Ruling

Justice Elena Kagan on Tuesday denied McKenna West’s emergency request to block a California court ruling naming Omar Ahmed and Nausheen Gilkar the legal parents of a boy born to West as a surrogate. The decision leaves the parentage ruling in place while West’s effort to challenge it continues. Kagan issued no written explanation. West gave birth on August 12 in Dallas after traveling from California during her pregnancy. The fetus had been diagnosed at about 20 weeks with hypoplastic left heart syndrome, a serious congenital condition affecting the heart’s development. West refused the intended parents’ request to terminate the pregnancy and later sought custody and a role in decisions about the child’s medical care. A California trial court ruled in June that Ahmed and Gilkar were the boy’s legal parents. State appellate courts did not block that decision, and a Texas court later recognized the California judgment and dismissed West from custody proceedings. West asked the Supreme Court to intervene, arguing that the ruling left her without authority over medical decisions for the child.