
A surrogate mother is locked in a multistate legal battle to protect the life of the baby boy she is carrying after the intended parents demanded an abortion following a prenatal diagnosis of a serious but treatable heart condition.
McKenna West, a nurse and single mother of two from Alaska, agreed to serve as a surrogate for a California couple through Worldwide Surrogacy Specialists.
At a 20-week ultrasound, the baby — whom West calls Gabriel — was diagnosed with hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS), a congenital defect in which the left side of the heart is underdeveloped.
Specialists have stated baby Gabriel has a good chance at survival with a series of surgeries beginning shortly after birth.
The intended parents, identified in court records only as A.B. and C.D., invoked a clause in the surrogacy contract and directed West to have an abortion that would kill the baby boy.
West refused. ---More...
