DALLAS (BP) – A custody battle between a surrogate and the genetic parents who wanted her to abort the baby highlights the “ethical quagmire” of surrogacy, Ethics & Religious Liberty President Evan Lenow told Baptist Press.
Lenow is speaking of the high-profile case of McKenna West, who fled to pro-life Texas and delivered a baby boy Aug. 12, months after genetic parents Nausheen Gilkar and Omar Ahmed of California asked her to abort the child for health reasons.
“While often stemming from a God-given, good desire for children or to help others have them, surrogacy is rife with moral problems,” Lenow said. “The current case of McKenna West, the surrogate who is in a legal battle with the child’s biological parents who attempted to coerce her into getting an abortion, demonstrates the ethical quagmire that surrogacy can create.”
The baby boy, whom West calls Gabriel, was diagnosed in utero with hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS), a serious but treatable birth defect that renders the left side of the heart too small to pump blood to the body properly. The genetic parents say the boy’s legal name is Rumi Ali Ahmed.
West and the California couple who sought her surrogacy were in a Dallas court Aug. 25 fighting for custody of the child. Dallas County District Judge Ashley Wysocki extended for 14 days a restraining order against West in advance of Wysocki’s anticipated ruling. The court had already cleared the way for the newborn to receive the first of three initial surgeries to treat HLHS, which he received Aug. 17.
“This case raises perplexing questions, like who is responsible for this child? Does West have the autonomy to, as pro-abortion advocates say, ‘choose’ what happens to her body, or to the baby?” Lenow posed. “Who has the decision-making authority over this baby’s life?”
Lenow referenced Psalm 139:16 in proclaiming, “On the final question (stated above), Southern Baptists affirm that God alone is sovereign over life and death. On the whole, West resisted abortion and has fought for this child’s life, reflective of the intrinsic value and dignity God afforded to the child from the moment of conception.”
Messengers to the 2025 Southern Baptist Convention passed a resolution questioning the ethics of surrogacy. The resolution “On Restoring Moral Clarity through God’s Design for Gender, Marriage, and the Family” posits that “Commercial surrogacy often treats children as products and women as a means to an end, and may entail the destruction of embryonic life, violating the dignity of human life and distorting God’s design for procreation within marriage.” Among resolved clauses addressing several life-related issues, messengers called for laws that “incentivize family formation in life-affirming ways.”
“Unfortunately, this case still shows us that surrogacy creates more problems than it solves,” Lenow said. “Even though some who choose surrogacy have good intentions, the practice promotes the commodification of children, introduces challenging moral questions about parenthood and responsibility and can present health and safety risks to surrogates and babies.
“Even though these children are undeniably a blessing, the possibilities offered by reproductive technology do not indicate moral simplicity or permissibility.”
The genetic parents endured eight unsuccessful rounds of fertility treatments before Gilkar’s body gave out, they said in court hearings, forcing her to have a hysterectomy. Still wanting a child, they sought a surrogate.
West, an Alaskan nurse who was parenting two children as a single mother when she agreed to be a surrogate, has said she fled to Texas to save the baby’s life. There, she has the support of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, various pro-life advocacy groups and laws protecting life. Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) is representing her.
“My focus has always been on protecting this precious baby’s life. It was great to hear that he received the first of the three necessary surgeries yesterday,” West said Aug. 18 in a statement released by ADF. “What matters most now is making sure he gets the life-saving care he will need in the coming months, care that the other side is currently fighting in court for their ability to withhold. My focus therefore remains on protecting his life.”
In the latest court hearing Aug. 25, the genetic parents said they will seek the baby’s continued medical treatment and pledged to work to save his life, PBS reported, after admitting they first wanted West to get an abortion. West first agreed to an abortion, the couple testified, but later changed her mind.
Erik Baptist, ADF senior counsel and director of the Center for Life, commended West’s fight for the baby’s life.
“It’s an honor and privilege to represent McKenna in her courageous stand for Baby Gabriel’s life. Every life matters,” Baptist said Aug. 12 in a public statement. “No woman should be forced to kill the baby she is carrying, and every child deserves a chance at life. We are thrilled that the court’s order calls for Baby Gabriel to receive the surgery necessary to save his life. And we are so grateful for Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s heroic, invaluable efforts to preserve this precious child’s life.”
A court ruling on the issue is expected in a couple of weeks.
In the meantime, pro-life advocacy group Live Action has raised for West about $130,000 towards a $200,000 goal on GiveSendGo.
