Baby Gabriel in Critical Condition After Heart Surgery as Surrogacy Battle Takes New Turn
The newborn at the center of a multistate custody dispute is now in critical condition after undergoing the first of three major heart surgeries, according to court documents cited by TMZ.
A newborn at the center of a highly publicized surrogacy dispute is in critical condition after undergoing complex open-heart surgery, according to court documents obtained by TMZ.
The biological parents, Nausheen Gilkar and Omar Ahmed, said the baby — whom they call Rumi—underwent the Norwood procedure, a major operation used to treat hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS), a serious congenital heart defect.
The parents said the baby’s condition deteriorated significantly after the surgery. According to their court filing, the infant required re-intubation and was being closely monitored at a hospital.
The medical crisis comes as the parents and surrogate McKenna West remain locked in a custody and legal battle that has stretched across multiple states.
Baby was born with a serious heart condition
The child was diagnosed before birth with hypoplastic left heart syndrome, a condition in which the left side of the heart is severely underdeveloped.
The condition requires a series of surgeries early in life. The Norwood procedure is generally the first stage of a three-operation treatment pathway for babies with HLHS. ABC News previously reported that the infant underwent the first of the three planned surgeries on August 17.
The latest court filing indicates that the baby’s condition has since become more serious.
The biological parents said the child experienced what they described as potential complications following the procedure and later needed to be placed back on a breathing tube.
The baby is at the center of a custody fight
The medical emergency comes just days after the biological parents secured custody of the newborn.
Gilkar and Ahmed hired West, an Alaska nurse, as a surrogate in 2025. During the pregnancy, doctors diagnosed the fetus with HLHS. The parents later sought to end the pregnancy, while West refused and continued the pregnancy.
West eventually traveled to Texas, where the baby was born on August 12.
The dispute then moved into the courts, with the biological parents seeking custody and West challenging her legal position as the child’s birth mother. Earlier court action gave the biological parents custody and authority over the child’s medical decisions.
Why the names “Gabriel” and “Rumi” both appear
The naming issue has become part of the wider dispute.
The biological parents call the baby Rumi. West has referred to him as Gabriel, a name that has also been adopted by anti-abortion activists supporting her position.
CNN’s reporting on the case identified the infant as Rumi while noting that activists have called him Baby Gabriel.
For that reason, “Baby Gabriel” is widely used in coverage of the case, but it does not represent the name used by the biological parents.
What happens to the custody case now?
The immediate focus is the baby’s health.
The biological parents are asking the court to delay a scheduled hearing concerning a temporary restraining order while the newborn remains critically ill.
The underlying legal dispute, however, is not over. It involves competing claims surrounding the surrogacy agreement, parental rights and medical decision-making.
The case has already drawn attention from courts and officials in multiple states and has become part of a broader debate over surrogacy, abortion decisions and parental rights.
For now, the most urgent development is medical: the newborn has undergone the first major heart operation and is reportedly in critical condition while doctors continue to monitor him.
