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A surrogate mother who allegedly refused an abortion request from the biological parents has given birth to a baby boy.
The infant arrived yesterday morning in Texas, three weeks ahead of his September 2 due date, and was immediately placed under the supervision of specialist paediatric doctors.
The birth has sparked a bitter legal dispute with the child's biological parents over his medical care.
Lee Budner, a lawyer representing the Californian couple who are the child's biological parents, confirmed the birth to The Texas Tribune.
He said: "Our clients' only focus at this time is ensuring that their baby receives the medical care that he vitally needs and that they, as his parents, are able to spend every precious moment they can with him."
The crisis began in April when a 20-week ultrasound revealed the foetus had hypoplastic left heart syndrome, a rare and serious condition where the left side of the heart fails to develop properly.
Newborns with HLHS can survive with prompt surgical intervention after delivery.
McKenna West, a nurse and single mother of two who had registered as a surrogate through Worldwide Surrogacy Specialists in 2025, alleged that the couple pressured her to end the pregnancy over concerns about the child's quality of life.
A baby boy has been delivered after surrogate mother McKenna West refused to terminate the pregnancy and fled from Alaska
|LIVE ACTION/YOUTUBE
The biological parents have strongly denied this claim.
She subsequently left Alaska for Texas, where abortion is banned in nearly all circumstances, seeking to deliver at a hospital with specialist paediatric cardiac facilities.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton stepped into the dispute on Tuesday, one day before the birth, to guarantee the newborn would receive life-saving heart surgery in the state.
His office contended that the biological parents had allegedly refused to commit to consenting to the operation.
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Under Texas law, the person who gives birth is recognised as the legal mother
|GETTY
"My office utilised every tool at our disposal to protect life, and we will not back down in continuing to support baby Gabriel's wellbeing," Mr Paxton said, using the name Ms West had chosen for the child.
A Dallas court upheld the Californian couple's parental rights, barring Ms West from making medical decisions or identifying herself as the mother.
The judge simultaneously mandated that doctors treat the boy's cardiac condition immediately upon birth and that he remain in Texas.
Ms West's lawyers confirmed that she had been denied access to the baby following delivery.
Under Texas law, the person who gives birth is recognised as the legal mother, though courts can override this where a surrogacy contract exists.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton stepped into the dispute
|REUTERS
Mr Budner accused both Mr Paxton and Ms West of transforming a family's tragedy into "political theatre."
The biological parents maintained in their most recent court filings that they had ultimately agreed the pregnancy should continue to full term.
Court documents referred to the child as Rumi, the name chosen by his biological parents, rather than Gabriel.