Overview
- The baby was born on Wednesday, Aug. 12, in Dallas and is receiving specialized care for hypoplastic left heart syndrome, a congenital defect that normally requires staged heart surgeries soon after birth.
- Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton obtained a court order before the birth to require life‑sustaining treatment and to keep the infant in Texas, and a separate Dallas order placed physical custody with the intended parents while temporarily barring the surrogate from making medical decisions.
- The surrogate, McKenna West, says the intended parents pressured her to terminate after a 20-week diagnosis and traveled to Texas to continue the pregnancy, a claim the parents deny and which is contested in court records showing a termination clause in the surrogacy contract.
- The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights sent hospitals written guidance reminding them that federal disability civil‑rights law bars withholding medically indicated care based on disability.
- The parties are scheduled to appear in Dallas court on Aug. 25 as West pursues parentage and custody claims under Texas birth‑mother law, a dispute that could prompt changes to how surrogacy contracts and cross‑state parentage are enforced.