The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to intervene in a bitter custody battle involving a surrogate who fled to Texas after the baby’s genetic parents asked her to terminate the pregnancy.
Justice Elena Kagan rejected surrogate McKenna West’s request to block a California ruling that awarded custody to Omar Ahmed and Nausheen Gilkar, NBC News reported. Kagan issued no written explanation for denying the emergency request.
West gave birth in Texas last month after doctors discovered that the baby had hypoplastic left heart syndrome, a potentially fatal congenital defect. She argued that California denied her due process and claimed the parents might not secure the proper medical needs for the newborn, according to NBC News.
Attorneys for West urged Kagan to intervene because a “life hangs in the balance.”
TMZ reported Tuesday that the parents denied West’s allegations about the baby’s medical care and asked her to leave them alone.
“She’s making us run from doctor to doctor, state to state with our baby,” Gilkar reportedly said. “She’s trying to take him.”
A judge dismissed West’s claims, and the Texas Supreme Court subsequently allowed the medically fragile baby to be transferred to California.
“Sustaining the life of the medically fragile child is the paramount concern in this time-sensitive matter,” the Texas Supreme Court said in a ruling last week.
Kagan’s decision Tuesday leaves the lower court ruling in place.