Parents who demanded surrogate abort their own baby now have custody of child after Texas birth

Nausheen Gilkar, 43, and Omar Ahmed, 45, have their newborn son in their custody after their surrogate, McKenna West of Alaska, gave birth to the boy on Wednesday morning. The son, named Gabriel, is in their custody while he receives medical care, according to a report from TMZ.

Lee Budner, the couple's lawyer, claimed that the parents are now placing his health first, even though before they wanted him to be killed via abortion. "As if the heartbreak of his condition were not enough, they are devastated to see their family tragedy transformed into political theater by the Texas Attorney General's office and McKenna West," the lawyer added.

Doctors discovered that Gabriel was suffering from hypoplastic left heart syndrome, a rare birth defect where the left side of the heart is not fully formed. The defect was discovered during the 20-week scan. West, who agreed to be a surrogate for the couple, signed a contract that also stated that the pregnancy could be terminated if there was an "anomaly" found. However, when West got the news that the baby had the defect, she fled from Alaska to Texas, where she refused to undergo an abortion and sought to find a hospital that could treat the baby.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton also waded into the case and obtained an emergency court order to protect the newborn after West refused to abort the child. The order required that lifesaving care be administered to the child after birth and restricted the child from being removed from Texas without authorization. “Baby Gabriel deserves a chance at life, and I will not allow anyone to unlawfully deny him medically necessary care," Paxton said in a statement on Tuesday.

Per the Dallas Morning News, although West agreed that she would not have custody of the child after birth, she is currently seeking custody,

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