Supreme Court Rejects Surrogate's Appeal in Custody Battle Over Baby

The U.S. Supreme Court declined Tuesday to intervene in a surrogacy custody dispute, leaving intact a California ruling that gave parental authority to the infant's genetic parents over the surrogate who carried him.

• Justice Kagan denied the request without explanation and without a recorded dissent.
• The Texas Supreme Court separately cleared the infant for transfer to a Los Angeles hospital.
• 1 surgery has already been performed; more procedures or a heart transplant may be needed.
• West's lawyers say she faces more than $250,000 in contractual penalties for refusing to terminate the pregnancy.

Why it matters: The case sits at the intersection of surrogacy contracts, state jurisdictional conflicts, and abortion debates — with a seriously ill newborn at the center.

• West, an Alaska nurse, flew to Texas to give birth after she declined the couple's request to end the pregnancy following a diagnosis of hypoplastic left heart syndrome.
• Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton obtained a pre-birth order requiring treatment but has since withdrawn from the case.

How 32 sources split on this story

Where they split: The core dispute is whether Ahmed and Gilkar are committed to the same life-saving treatment West says she wants, or whether transferring the baby to California risks a shift toward hospice care.

What’s next: West is pursuing further federal court appeals while the California parentage ruling remains in force.

• The Texas Supreme Court's Sept. 17 order permits an ICU-to-ICU transfer to a Los Angeles hospital.
• What medical treatment plan will Ahmed and Gilkar pursue once the baby is in California?
• Will any federal court take up West's challenge to California's jurisdiction over an Alaska surrogate?
• How will courts resolve competing state surrogacy and parentage laws when a dispute crosses multiple state lines?