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DALLAS — <\/span>A California couple in an escalating fight<\/a> with their surrogate over a newborn with a life-threatening heart defect told a Texas court Tuesday that the child’s condition has worsened and they are anguished by attempts to deny them parental rights because they previously wanted an abortion.<\/p>\n \u201cHe’s our child,\u201d Nausheen Gilkar said, wiping away tears on the witness stand. <\/p>\n \u201cShe’s unstable,\u201d Gilkar said of surrogate McKenna West, who was sitting across from her in the Dallas courtroom. \u201cShe’s trying to take him from us.\u201d <\/p>\n The hearing offered the fullest public airing to date of a deepening and high-profile dispute over surrogacy and abortion that has rushed right-to-life groups and GOP officeholders to the side of West, a nurse who flew from Alaska to have the baby on Aug. 12 in Texas, where most abortions are banned.<\/p>\n Gilkar and her husband, Omar Ahmed, say they named the newborn Rumi. Attorneys for West, who has called the child Gabriel, said she is seeking sole conservatorship to make medical decisions for the child.<\/p>\n It was not clear when the judge would issue an order in the case. <\/p>\n West told the court that she was 23 weeks pregnant when she made an appointment for an abortion at the couple’s urging but was not comfortable with it. <\/p>\n \u201cI knew that this baby, despite the diagnosis, had a great chance at survival and a great chance at leading a long life,\u201d West said.<\/p>\n After West gave birth, the couple obtained a restraining order barring her from seeing or holding the child. <\/p>\n The judge did not rule on final custody or conservatorship Tuesday, and the restraining order was left in effect.<\/p>\n Court documents filed by the couple’s attorney prior to the hearing said Rumi was in critical condition and appeared to be \u201csuffering from potential complications\u201d from a procedure after he was born. <\/p>\n The child has hypoplastic left heart syndrome, a congenital defect in which one side of the organ is underdeveloped, preventing normal blood flow. <\/p>\n Fewer than 1,000 newborns each year have the condition, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Without treatment, death can come within days or weeks. <\/p>\n Gilkar told the court that the baby had no blood flow to the left side of his heart. Since surgery, she said, he has gasped for air, choked on tubes and needed a blood transfusion. <\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s the most beautiful person I\u2019ve never seen,\u201d Gilkar said. \u201cHe\u2019s the love of our lives. He\u2019s suffering a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n West and her attorneys have argued that Gilkar and Ahmed were not committed to guaranteeing that the baby would undergo surgeries or \u201clife-saving care.\u201d They say West should have conservatorship because the couple asked her to terminate the pregnancy after learning of the baby’s diagnosis.<\/p>\n On the stand, West told their attorney, Lee Budner, that if the court finds that the couple are committed to the baby receiving the surgeries, she would drop any custody claims. <\/p>\n Jeff Domen, an attorney for West, repeatedly pressed Gilkar on the couple’s desire to terminate the pregnancy, asking her to confirm that she requested it. Asked if she regretted the decision, Gilkar responded that she did not. <\/p>\n \u201cWould you trust somebody to care for your child that wanted your child dead?\u201d Domen asked.<\/p>\n Gilkar said she did not know how to respond to the question. <\/p>\n Gilkar and Ahmed say West violated the surrogacy contract they entered in August 2025. <\/p>\n Gilkar told the court that she entered the contract after going through eight rounds of in vitro fertilization in Los Angeles and her body \u201cgave up.\u201d She had to undergo a hysterectomy, she said.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was not my first choice, it was my only option,\u201d Gilkar said.<\/p>\n West stayed in the couple’s home in Los Angeles, Gilkar said, and she was there with West for the IVF transfer. <\/p>\n \u201cI was holding her hand,\u201d Gilkar said, crying. <\/p>\n The couple\u2019s attorney referenced court records from California that determined West has no rights to legal or physical custody. West said she wanted the judge to disregard that ruling, saying she was willing to fight for him since the diagnosis.<\/p>\n Surrogacy is not regulated on a federal level, and experts say each state has its own laws, which can leave room for gaps in interpretation.<\/p>\n \u201cWe believe Ms. West is the mother of this child,\u201d Domen said. <\/p>\n ___<\/p>\n Wilder reported from Austin. ___<\/p>\n Wilder is a corps member for The Associated Press\/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America<\/a> is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n