Omar Ahmed (right) and his wife, Nausheen Gilkar, (center) arrive for a court hearing in Dallas on Tuesday.
LM Otero/Associated Press
McKenna West (center) walks in a hallway before a court hearing in Dallas on Tuesday.
LM Otero/Associated Press
Editor’s note: This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
A Dallas County court heard arguments Tuesday in a surrogacy case that has captured national headlines in recent weeks.
The hearing, which lasted for more than four hours, included testimony from both the baby’s biological mother and the surrogate. The hearing ultimately ended with Judge Ashley Wysocki extending an existing temporary restraining order — which bars the surrogate from seeing the baby — pending a new ruling.
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The hearing is the latest development in the case of baby Rumi, who was born in Dallas earlier this month. The baby’s biological parents had requested the surrogate carrying their child to undergo an abortion, after the fetus was diagnosed with a severe heart condition. The surrogate refused, and later traveled to and gave birth in Texas. The parents have been staying in the hospital with the baby, including through an open heart surgery, since his birth.
At the core of Tuesday’s hearing, and the core of the case, is this question: Who has legal standing as the baby’s parent?
Nausheen Gilkar, the baby’s biological mother, testified first. While Gilkar’s attorneys have issued statements on her behalf, Gilkar has not gone public with her story.
In the Dallas court room, Gilkar sobbed on the stand. She recounted the timeline of the surrogacy agreement, and some details of the baby’s still-critical medical condition, while clutching a tissue between her hands. A red wristband encircled her right wrist, matching another wristand worn by her husband, Omar Ahmed.
The surrogate, McKenna West, testified second. During the bulk of her testimony, she was monotone, often taking long pauses before answering and confining her responses to “yes” and “no.” She took a shuddering breath, grabbing for a tissue, one time: When one of her attorneys asked her to describe how she had felt when she thought about terminating the pregnancy after a fetal anomaly diagnosis.
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West’s testimony ended shortly before 5 p.m., but the hearing continued. The judge eventually ended the hearing and extended the temporary restraining order, which was expiring on Tuesday, pending her ruling.
Related: North Texas baby in surrogacy case undergoes open heart surgery, attorney says
The case has its roots in a surrogacy agreement that Gilkar and Ahmed signed with West. The surrogate was carrying the couple’s biological child when, at about 20 weeks pregnant, the fetus was diagnosed with a severe heart condition. The couple, who live in California, decided they wanted to terminate the pregnancy. The surrogacy contract, which The Dallas Morning News previously reviewed through court records, says the intended parents may choose to terminate the pregnancy in the case of a fetal anomaly.
West, however, declined to undergo an abortion. A few months later, she came to Texas and then gave birth in Dallas.
In court filings, Ahmed wrote that he and his wife have been invested in the baby’s medical care since before his birth.
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West and her attorneys have asserted that the surrogate has a parentage claim over the baby. A temporary restraining order, issued from the Dallas County court, has so far prohibited West from seeing or holding the baby.
The baby, who was diagnosed with hypoplastic left heart syndrome, underwent an open heart surgery soon after his birth. Children with the heart condition typically require three open heart surgeries during early childhood.