The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to pause a California ruling that identifies a married couple as the legal parents of a child born through a disputed surrogacy arrangement. Justice Elena Kagan denied the emergency request on Tuesday without an opinion.
The application came from McKenna West, who carried the pregnancy for Nausheen Gilkar and Omar Ahmed. After doctors diagnosed the fetus with a severe cardiac condition, West refused the couple’s request to terminate the pregnancy. She later sought a role in decisions about the child’s medical care after giving birth in August.
A California trial court ruled in June that Gilkar and Ahmed were the legal parents and rejected West’s argument that the state court lacked authority over her. State appellate courts declined to stay that ruling. West then asked the Supreme Court to intervene while she pursues a full appeal.
Kagan’s order leaves the California judgment effective; it does not resolve the underlying constitutional and jurisdictional questions. The emergency application was handled by the justice responsible for matters arising from the Ninth Circuit, and no reason was given for the denial.
The dispute brings several bodies of law into unusually direct contact: contract, parentage, state jurisdiction and decisions about a seriously ill newborn. The couple told the Court they remain committed to lifesaving treatment. West’s lawyers argued that enforcing the California order in Texas left her without authority to participate in medical decisions. The merits of her proposed Supreme Court appeal remain pending.
