A surrogate mother, who is also an Alaskan nurse and a single mother of two, is facing pressure to abort the baby she is carrying for another couple after the child was diagnosed with a heart condition, a lawsuit alleges.
The surrogate mother, McKenna West, agreed to become a surrogate with Worldwide Surrogacy Specialists in September of last year as a way to bring in more income, the New York Post reported.
In April 2026, she underwent an anatomy scan during her 20th week of pregnancy for “Baby Gabriel,” and he was diagnosed with hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS), a severe but treatable heart condition, the lawsuit reportedly details.
Baby Gabriel’s biological parents, who are reportedly named in court papers as A.B. and C.D., demanded West abort their child after the diagnosis, citing the “abortion on demand” clause of the surrogacy agreement, the report states, citing court documents.
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After doctors in Alaska refused to perform the late abortion, which would have been a risky, two-day procedure, the biological parents demanded West travel to Seattle to have an abortion, court documents reportedly claim.
West said she was grief-stricken at the idea of aborting the baby boy and already feels a bond with him. whom she already feels a bond with.
She was specifically appalled by the prospect of doctors injecting Baby Gabriel with “a solution that will stop his heart and then he’ll be literally ripped apart and dismembered as he’s taken from [her] uterus,” when his condition is treatable, the lawsuit reportedly states.
“Every life matters. No woman should be forced to end the life of the baby she is carrying — including me… Baby Gabriel should receive a chance at life,” West told the Post.
Newborns with his condition typically need surgery right after birth to live beyond their first week. Babies who have the operation have a 75 percent chance of living until 5 years old, and those who live their first year have a 90 percent chance of living until 18 years old, the report states, citing the New York Presbyterian Hospital.
West decided not to go through with having Baby Gabriel aborted, and she offered to take full responsibility for him. However, the biological parents rejected her offer and threatened to sue her for $250,000 — an amount that would financially devastate her, according to the report.
In response, West fled to Texas with the hope of having Baby Gabriel at a hospital that specializing in the kind of care he will need.
After that, a “complex legal battle” ensued in Alaska Superior Court and the California Second District Court of Appeal, according to the report. The biological parents are trying to compel her to give birth in their home state of California and two attain parental rights over the child, who is due on September 3.
“However, West suspects that this is a ploy by the biological parents to terminate Baby Gabriel by refusing to have doctors perform the life-saving surgery on him,” the report states. “West has offered to renounce any parental rights over Baby Gabriel as long as the biological parents vow to get him the surgery, and they have refused. They have also discussed palliative care for the child with doctors,” according to court documents.
The parents, A.B. and C.D., argue West is not telling the full story and is only after their money, court documents allege.
“Unfortunately, there is no way to know if their child will be eligible for the surgeries he needs because West refuses to submit to an amniocentesis [a prenatal test that checks for genetic disorders] because she is afraid she will not get paid for it,” the complaint alleges.
Katherine Hamilton is a political reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on X @thekat_hamilton.
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