Surrogate Medical Treatment

A California couple in an escalating fight with their surrogate over a newborn with a life-threatening heart defect have testified in a Texas court. They said 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. Nausheen Gilkar called surrogate McKenna West “unstable” and lamented that “she’s trying to take him from us.” West is attempting to take conservatorship of the child. She says the couple pressured her to end the pregnancy after learning of the diagnosis. The hearing offered the fullest public airing to date of a deepening and high-profile dispute over surrogacy and abortion.