Surrogate, California couple clash in court as newborn fights for life after heart surgery

The critically ill newborn at the center of a bitter surrogate custody fight was placed back on a breathing tube after his condition worsened following open-heart surgery, according to newly filed court documents.

The baby is in critical condition and being closely watched at the hospital, intended parents Nausheen Gilkar and Omar Ahmed said in filings obtained by TMZ.

The couple said the child suffered possible complications after a Norwood procedure, an operation used to treat his severe heart defect, and had to be re-intubated after his condition declined overnight.

SURROGATE SAYS BABY 'RIPPED AWAY' 60 SECONDS AFTER BIRTH AS CUSTODY FIGHT ERUPTS AFTER ABORTION REFUSAL In a Dallas courtroom Tuesday, Gilkar and Ahmed faced surrogate McKenna West as they fought over who should make medical decisions for the newborn.

The clash has drawn national attention because West says she refused the California couple’s earlier request to terminate the pregnancy after the baby was diagnosed with a life-threatening heart condition.

Gilkar and Ahmed call the baby Rumi.

West, an Alaska cardiac nurse, calls him Gabriel and is asking a Texas judge to give her sole conservatorship, which would put medical decision-making in her hands.

HHS WARNS TEXAS HOSPITALS AGAINST DENYING LIFE-SAVING CARE TO NEWBORN WITH DISABILITY Gilkar told the court the couple has been at their son’s bedside as he fights through treatment.

She said that since surgery, he has struggled to breathe, choked on tubes and needed a blood transfusion, according to court reporting by The Associated Press.

"He’s our child," Gilkar said, according to the AP.

She accused West of trying to take him away.

"She’s trying to take him from us," Gilkar said.

Gilkar described the newborn as "the love of our lives" and said, "He’s suffering a lot." NEONATOLOGIST SOUNDS ALARM OVER MASSACHUSETTS ABORTION LAW ALLOWING PROCEDURES UP TO BIRTH: 'VERY DISTURBING' The custody feud began after the baby was diagnosed at about 20 weeks with hypoplastic left heart syndrome , or HLHS.

West says Gilkar and Ahmed then asked her to terminate the pregnancy.