Los Angeles couple's surrogacy baby undergoes first heart surgery
The infant born to a Los Angeles couple and their surrogate is recovering after the first of three operations needed for a life-threatening heart defect.
A baby born to a Los Angeles couple and their surrogate has undergone the first of three surgeries required to treat hypoplastic left heart syndrome, a severe congenital condition. The child, named Rumi, was delivered in Texas after the surrogate, McKenna West, left the state amid a legal dispute in which the parents, Omar Ahmed and Nausheen Gilkar, were reported to have wanted to terminate the pregnancy.
Lee Budner, the couple's attorney, said the infant received a complex palliative heart operation on August 17 and is now recuperating with his parents. Budner added that the parents consented to the procedure as soon as the hospital could schedule it and that they are seeking privacy while caring for their son during his recovery.
The case has attracted attention from anti-abortion activists, who have referred to the child as "Baby Gabriel," but the family now has legal custody of the infant.