Texas AG Ken Paxton Fights to Save Surrogate Baby

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced Tuesday that his office has intervened in a Dallas County parentage case to protect the life of an unborn child diagnosed with a serious but treatable heart condition.

Paxton is demanding that two Dallas hospitals provide medically necessary care and he is seeking court orders to keep the baby in Texas.

The child, known as baby Gabriel, is being carried by Alaska surrogate mother McKenna West, a nurse and single mother of two. At a 20-week ultrasound, Gabriel was diagnosed with hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS), a congenital defect in which the left side of the heart is underdeveloped. Specialists have stated that baby Gabriel has a good chance at survival with a series of surgeries beginning shortly after birth.

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The California intended parents invoked a clause in the surrogacy contract and directed West to have an abortion that would kill the baby boy. West refused.

“I knew that I didn’t want to have to go through [an abortion],” she said. “I didn’t want for this baby — for his life to be cut short.”

No doctors in Alaska would do the late-term abortion, which court documents describe as involving an injection to stop the baby’s heart followed by dismemberment. West relocated to Texas near a hospital equipped to provide the specialized cardiac care Gabriel will need.

She has filed for custody in Alaska so she can authorize the surgeries and has offered to relinquish all parental rights if the couple commits in writing to the life-saving treatment.

The parents have sued for parental rights, sought to compel her to give birth in California, stopped payments, and demanded repayment plus damages that could reach $250,000 — a sum West says would financially ruin her. They have refused to agree that they will consent to the life-saving surgery upon birth and may attempt to transport the child out of Texas to prevent treatment from being administered.

With West’s due date of September 2 approaching, Paxton formally notified UT Southwestern Medical Center and Children’s Medical Center of Dallas of their legal obligations to provide the baby with medically necessary, life-saving care upon birth.

He has filed an intervention in the case and asked the district court to enter orders directing the child’s care upon birth, prohibiting his removal from the state, and setting an expedited hearing on any refusal of treatment.

In a letter to the hospitals, Paxton laid out the physicians’ independent legal duty to provide the child treatment regardless of how the parentage dispute is ultimately resolved. The letter makes clear that physicians may provide baby Gabriel with emergency life-sustaining treatment without parental consent or a court order.

Paxton urged the hospitals to provide life-saving care and reject any unlawful transfer of the baby out of state.

“Baby Gabriel deserves a chance at life, and I will not allow anyone to unlawfully deny him medically necessary care,” said Attorney General Paxton. “My office will use every tool available to protect innocent lives and ensure that every child receives the care required under Texas law.”

West has stated: “I want to fight for him because he deserves that chance” and “My goal is to get him surgery.”

The Office of the Attorney General will continue to monitor the case closely and pursue all available legal remedies to ensure baby Gabriel receives the treatment that Texas law requires.