Surrogate Mother Fights for Life Despite Parents Demanding Abortion

An Alaskan woman is fighting for life as the biological parents of the child she is carrying via surrogacy are demanding a late-term abortion. McKenna West, a nurse and single mother of two, is 35 weeks pregnant with baby Gabriel via surrogacy. Gabriel’s biological parents demanded an abortion after a 20-week anatomy scan revealed the baby had a serious but treatable heart condition. 

BREAKING: McKenna is a 35 week pregnant surrogate fighting to save Gabriel, the baby growing inside her.

At 20 weeks, Gabriel was diagnosed with a serious heart condition doctors say can be treated after birth.

The buyers wanted McKenna to abort.

She refused.

Now, they are… pic.twitter.com/CyflzNTXft

— Lila Rose (@LilaGraceRose) August 3, 2026

Following a diagnosis of hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS), a “single ventricle defect,”  the baby’s biological parents, who are referred to in court documents as A.B. and C.D. referenced the “abortion on demand clause” in the surrogacy contract when demanding that West have the baby aborted. 

With specialized treatment and open-heart surgeries, many HLHS children survive into adulthood. Without treatment, however, the condition is fatal within the first few weeks of life. 

An abortion at 20 weeks is a highly complicated, multi-day surgery involving sterile injection and induced labor. Alaskan doctors refused to perform the procedure, prompting the parents to demand West come to Seattle for the abortion. 

In an attempt to save the child’s life, West offered to take full custody of Baby Gabriel. The offer was rejected, however, and the parents are threatening to sue West for a bankrupting $250,000. 

Court documents reflect West’s horror at the possibility of the child being “ripped from her uterus” after being injected with a solution that will “stop his heart,” all because of a condition that is treatable. 

In a statement to the New York Post, West said that “Every life matters. No woman should be forced to end the life of the baby she is carrying — including me… Baby Gabriel should receive a chance at life.” 

West believes that the parents, who are fighting legal battles to have the birth in California, want to refuse life-saving care for the child in an effort to kill him. West, who initially fled to Texas in hopes of finding a hospital that would offer care, has agreed to relinquish all parental rights to the parents under the condition that the baby receives the surgery. 

The parents, however, are refusing and claim that West is being dishonest and just wants their money. “Unfortunately, there is no way to know if their child will be eligible for the surgeries he needs because West refuses to submit to an amniocentesis [a prenatal test that checks for genetic disorders] because she is afraid she will not get paid for it,” the complaint read.

Baby Gabriel is due on September 3. According to the Seattle Children’s Hospital, babies who receive first-stage surgery for HLHS have a success rate of 75 to 90 percent, with long-term childhood survival reaching roughly 70 to 75 percent after completing all staged procedures. 

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