Baby Rumi Survives Heart Surgery Amid Surrogacy Battle Over Abortion
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A baby with a heart defect at the center of an extraordinary surrogacy battle between a pro-life surrogate and biological parents, who sought an abortion, has undergone his first life-saving surgery.
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New York PostThe baby born to a surrogate who refused to have an abortion despite the biological parents’ wishes has undergone surgery for the serious heart defect he was born with.
NBC NewsA baby with a serious heart condition who was the center of a multi-state legal fight involving a surrogate who said she refused to terminate the pregnancy underwent surgery Monday, the lawyer representing the child’s biological parents said.
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Little Rumi was born Wednesday in Texas after being diagnosed in utero with a rare congenital heart condition, hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS), which results from the organ being underdeveloped.
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NBC NewsMcKenna West gave birth to Rumi on Wednesday in Texas. The child was diagnosed with the rare congenital heart condition hypoplastic left heart syndrome in utero. It is a defect resulting from the underdevelopment of the organ.
The Daily WireCBS News reported Monday that Rumi underwent complex heart surgery to treat hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS), a serious congenital defect that typically requires three surgeries.
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Before the child was born, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, an anti-abortion Republican running for Senate, intervened and filed a motion asking the Texas state court to order doctors to perform surgery on the child. He alleged that the biological parents may refuse to provide the baby with lifesaving care — something the parents have denied.
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New York PostThe matter drew the attention of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a staunch pro-life advocate running for Senate in the state, who filed a motion ordering the Texas state court to perform the operation, alleging his biological parents might deny the child lifesaving care.
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The heart procedure Rumi underwent is known as a Norwood procedure, which the attorney for the biological parents, Omar Ahmed and Nausheen Gilkar, described as “a complex palliative heart surgery” in a statement to the outlet.
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NBC NewsRumi on Monday underwent a Norwood procedure, “a complex palliative heart surgery,” Lee Budner, attorney for biological parents Omar Ahmed and Nausheen Gilkar, said in a statement.
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“Rumi is now recuperating under the loving care of his parents and his heroic team of doctors, nurses, and medical staff,” the family’s lawyer told CBS. “This is the last update on Rumi’s health that his family intends to share. His condition remains critical and complex, and his family seeks privacy in caring for their son on his long road to recovery.”
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NBC News“This is the last update on Rumi’s health that his family intends to share,” Budner said. “His condition remains critical and complex, and his family seeks privacy in caring for their son on his long road to recovery.”
New York Post“Rumi is now recuperating under the loving care of his parents and his heroic team of doctors, nurses, and medical staff,” their attorney Lee Budner said in a statement.
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The Norwood procedure is one of three surgeries required in the first several years of life for a baby with the syndrome, known as HLHS, Budner said.
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The Daily WireLee Budner, an attorney for the parents Omar Ahmed and Nausheen Gilkar, said a medical team determined that the baby was eligible for the Norwood procedure, the first of three surgeries typically performed on babies born with HLHS, according to CBS. The procedure was performed Monday morning. Babies with the condition typically undergo a second operation at 4 to 6 months of age, according to the Cleveland Clinic.
New York PostThe Norwood procedure is the first of three required operations a baby born with the condition must undergo in the first few years of its life.
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Instead, West’s refusal to abort was contested by the commissioning parents, prompting her to flee her home state of Alaska to Texas to get the unborn baby the medical care and legal protection he needed to have a chance of life outside the womb.
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NBC NewsIn a court filing, the biological parents said they respected that West, whom they met as a surrogate through an agency, refused to go through with an abortion.
New York PostMcKenna West, the surrogate mother, had claimed the child’s biological parents wanted her to have an abortion after the diagnosis but she refused, sparking a legal battle.
The Daily WireWest refused the abortion demand and fled to Texas, where abortion is mostly illegal, and the state law recognizes the woman who carries and gives birth to a child as the “gestational mother.”
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A majority of rent-a-womb contracts contain provisions that allow the people who paid to create the baby to demand abortion for genetic defects, triplets, or simply on a whim. Even the agreements created specifically to cater to couples and surrogates who claim to be pro-life don’t protect babies nor the women carrying them from the risk and harms of abortion. The surrogates such as West who resist such calls for abortion are subject not only to emotional and mental turmoil, but also lawsuits and custody battles that could financially ruin them.
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The Daily WireMost surrogacy contracts include provisions giving the intended parents a say in whether to terminate a pregnancy. Surrogate.com says surrogates cannot be forced to undergo an abortion, but refusing to comply with a contractual agreement could carry “financial and legal consequences.”
6 details only one outlet reported
Independent claims that didn't surface elsewhere in our corpus. Treat as supplementary — not corroborated across outlets.
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01 NBC News West has alleged that the biological parents repeatedly pressured her to have an abortion.
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02 New York Post The newborn had “complex palliative heart surgery” on Monday and “is now recuperating under the loving care of his parents,” their attorney told NBC News.
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03 BBC News Published At least 30 children, most of them British, are feared to have been conceived by IVF treatment in northern Cyprus using the wrong sperm or egg donors.
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04 The Federalist According to the abortion-isms of old, women have the “right to choose” what happens to the babies they carry. “Her body, her choice,” they shout. The wild, wild west that is third-party reproduction, however, claims to be an exception to that rule if a contract clause compelling abortion exists.
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05 Fox News Massachusetts' sweeping move to expand abortion rights up to birth is facing fierce criticism nationwide, with one neonatologist calling it "very disturbing" that life-and-death decisions are being made based on limited prenatal information.
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06 The Daily Wire McKenna West, a single mother of two, delivered the baby last Wednesday in the Dallas area after Texas Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton secured a court order requiring him to receive life-saving medical care. She named him Gabriel.
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Sources (6)
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- dailywire
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