A surrogate mother who refused a request to abort the baby she was carrying after a serious heart defect diagnosis is continuing her custody fight following the newborn’s heart surgery.

McKenna West, an Alaska mother and cardiac nurse, said she was separated from the baby moments after giving birth Aug. 12. She had traveled to Texas to deliver the child after refusing the intended parents’ request to terminate the pregnancy.

"I haven’t been allowed to hold this precious baby boy I carried and protected throughout my pregnancy," West wrote Thursday in a New York Post opinion article.

"The only glimpse I got of him was during a very short 60 seconds while his umbilical cord was still connected. As soon as the cord was cut, he was taken away."

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West agreed last year to serve as a surrogate for Omar Ahmed and Nausheen Gilkar of California, the child’s intended parents. According to West, they asked her to terminate the pregnancy after the baby was diagnosed at about 20 weeks with hypoplastic left heart syndrome, also known as HLHS.

West refused the request and later went to Texas to give birth. Ahmed and Gilkar’s attorney disputes key parts of West’s account and says the intended parents consented to surgery as soon as doctors found the baby eligible.

Lee Budner, an attorney for Ahmed and Gilkar, said doctors made that determination on Aug. 14. The baby, whom Ahmed and Gilkar call Rumi, was eligible for the Norwood procedure, the first of three open heart surgeries commonly used for newborns with HLHS.

"My clients immediately provided consent for the surgery to occur at the hospital’s earliest availability," Budner said in an Aug. 17 statement.

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The child underwent the Norwood procedure Aug. 17 and is recuperating under the care of Ahmed, Gilkar and his medical team, according to Budner. He said the baby’s condition "remains critical and complex."

Budner also accused West of pursuing custody despite court rulings in Alaska and California.

"Meanwhile, Ms. West continues to assert baseless claims for custody of Rumi, in violation of multiple courts orders out of both Alaska and California," he said. "We look forward to quickly defeating those claims as Rumi’s parents continue to focus on his health and safety above all else."

West is receiving assistance from Alliance Defending Freedom. She said her legal effort is not an attempt to take another person’s child and instead described it as a fight to ensure the baby receives continuing treatment.

"I’m not fighting to try to take someone else’s baby," West wrote. "I’m fighting because this baby boy needs someone willing to advocate for and fight alongside him as he gets the ongoing treatment his fragile heart requires."

Live Action founder and President Lila Rose, whose organization has supported West, told Fox News Digital that West plans to continue pursuing custody. West and her supporters call the baby Gabriel.

"McKenna is fighting for custody because Gabriel needs someone willing to defend him," Rose said. "He deserves to remain protected and receive every chance to heal and live."

Rose also challenged Ahmed and Gilkar’s description of the events before surgery. "If they were willing for Gabriel to receive the surgery, why did a Texas court have to ensure that he received it under the force of law?" Rose said.

"The court intervened, and Gabriel has now received the surgery he desperately needed. Praise God."

Rose alleged that Ahmed and Gilkar previously declined to consent to medical care for the baby and are seeking to remove him from Texas. Their attorney disputes West’s characterization and maintains that they consented once the medical team determined that the child was eligible for the procedure.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton previously intervened in the case. His office notified two Texas medical centers of what it said were their legal obligations to provide medically necessary care after the child’s birth.

The Norwood procedure is the first of three surgeries typically used to treat HLHS, leaving the baby’s future medical treatment at the center of the dispute. Budner said the family does not intend to release additional updates about the child’s health.

West, meanwhile, said she will keep fighting. "My plea, my only goal, is simple: Let’s commit to giving this baby the full treatment he needs to live," she wrote.