Surrogate mom fights to save baby she is carrying as biological parents push for ABORTION over treatable heart condition

A SURROGATE mom is fighting to save the unborn boy she is carrying after his biological parents demanded that she abort him over a severe heart defect. McKenna West refused to end the pregnancy after learning that a series of operations could give the baby a chance at life. Surrogate mom McKenna West after his biological parents demanded that she abort him over a severe heart defect Credit: Courtesy of Mckenna West West was 20 weeks pregnant when an ultrasound revealed there was no blood flowing through the left side of the baby’s heart Credit: Facebook/Mckenna West The Alaska nurse, who is now in Texas, has become locked in a bitter court battle with the California couple as her September 2 due date rapidly approaches. West was 20 weeks pregnant when an ultrasound revealed there was no blood flowing through the left side of the baby’s heart. Sign up for The Sun newsletter Thank you! She said the devastating diagnosis came without warning after earlier scans and genetic tests had appeared normal. “It was completely unexpected,” West told Live Action. A maternal-fetal medicine specialist diagnosed the boy with hypoplastic left heart syndrome, known as HLHS. The rare congenital defect leaves the left side of the heart too underdeveloped to properly pump blood around the body. Babies with HLHS require urgent treatment after birth and will usually undergo three major operations. The first, known as the Norwood procedure, is normally performed within days of delivery. Most read in The Sun It is followed by the Glenn procedure at around four to six months and the Fontan operation at roughly two or three years old. NewYork-Presbyterian says around 72 percent of children receiving surgical treatment survive to age five. Among those who reach five, approximately 90 percent survive to 18, although patients require lifelong heart care and may later need further procedures or a transplant. Court documents reportedly describe the baby, whom West calls Gabriel, as a standard-risk patient whose condition may be an isolated heart defect. West’s doctor said the boy appeared to face a low risk of dying during the first operation, according to filings obtained by Live Action. But West said the biological parents, identified only as A.B. and C.D., raised the possibility of abortion immediately after the diagnosis. “I knew that I didn’t want to have to go through it,” she told the outlet. West had become their surrogate through Connecticut-based Worldwide Surrogacy Specialists after meeting the couple over Zoom. “It felt like a perfect match,” she recalled. West said the surrogacy agreement contained a clause requiring her to terminate the pregnancy if an “anomaly” was discovered. She had questioned the clause before signing, but said the agency assured her that such circumstances were rare. After the diagnosis, West asked whether financial help could be arranged to cover the baby’s expected medical costs. She also shared accounts of people living with HLHS in an effort to persuade the couple to continue the pregnancy. But West said her fears grew after one of the parents told her they had removed the baby’s earlier ultrasound picture from their refrigerator. He reportedly said she could mail them the latest scan but should address the envelope only to him. West began researching specialist hospitals and found a pediatric center in Dallas that treats babies with the condition. Children’s Health says all newborns who underwent the Norwood operation at its center in 2020 and 2021 survived, compared with a national survival rate of 85 percent at the time. West offered to stay with a friend in Texas to reduce the couple’s travel and accommodation costs. However, a liaison from the surrogacy agency reportedly told her the parents remained concerned about the boy’s future quality of life. Days after the diagnosis, West was informed that they had formally requested an abortion. The procedure was initially scheduled in Seattle for April 28 and 29, when she would have been 23 weeks pregnant. It was later moved to May 6 and 7, when West would have been 24 weeks along, after she struggled to arrange for someone to accompany her. In court papers, West described feeling horrified by the prospect of undergoing the procedure and said she feared how she would live with the decision afterward. She also worried that refusing would expose her and her two young children to financial ruin. West said the turning point came when her brother offered to adopt the baby with his wife. “We’ll adopt this baby,” he told her, according to West. The nurse then contacted her friend, podcaster Ellen Fisher, who connected her with anti-abortion campaigner Lila Rose. West said Rose offered to help move her family to Texas and connect her with lawyers and doctors. “I finally felt hopeful,” West told Live Action. The biological parents have since sought $250,000 from West, including money already paid under the agreement and additional alleged damages. They are also pursuing legal recognition of their parental rights in California, despite language in the contract stating that Alaska law would govern the agreement. The couple wants West to give birth in California under the care of a medical team selected there. West’s attorneys claim the parents have not committed to approving the operations after the boy is delivered and may instead choose comfort care. West has said she will travel to California and surrender any custody claim if the couple guarantees that the baby will receive surgery. She has otherwise asked an Alaska court to award her sole custody so doctors in Texas can treat him. “I want to fight for him because he deserves that chance,” West said. She added that there was no guarantee the treatment would work but insisted the boy deserved the opportunity to live outside the womb. On July 28, the Alaska Superior Court rejected an effort to immediately force West to move to California. However, it ruled that a California court could decide where she delivers and which medical team treats her. The State of Alaska intervened by arguing that its constitution protects a surrogate’s power to make her own pregnancy and medical decisions. “The constitutional right of privacy protects a woman’s autonomy,” the state said in its filing. The biological parents objected and accused West and her attorneys of using the state to ignore their parental and privacy rights. They argued that West was causing “confusion and stress” when the child’s interests should be the only consideration. A California court has granted the couple a judgment recognizing their parental rights. West is now challenging that decision through an emergency appeal as the fight over the baby’s birthplace and medical treatment continues. Comment now