SANTA ANA — A South Orange County woman trying to keep custody of a toddler she's raised since birth told a national audience Wednesday that it has crossed her mind to defy a court order to return the girl to Ohio, where her father lives.

In an appearance on "Good Morning America,'' Stacey Doss said she wasn't sure what she'd do if her attorneys are unable to convince a California appeal court to stay an order to turn over 2-year-old Vanessa by July 16.

"I'm still having faith the courts will do the right thing,'' the 45- year-old foster mom said in a phone interview on her way to the airport to fly home from New York.

"I haven't visualized what will happen (if she loses her appeal), but my gut instincts are to protect Vanessa from any danger. I don't know what I'd do, to be honest ... I would ask any parent, 'What would you do if you knew someone was coming to take away your kid?' You'd think about a lot of different things.''

Doss is embroiled in a child-custody struggle with the girl's father, Benjamin Mills Jr., who came forward with a paternity claim when his daughter was about a month old, halting the adoption.

Mills' attorney, Elizabeth Gorman, issued a statement Wednesday criticizing how Doss has publicized the case.

"Mr. Mills trusts the court will continue to issue appropriate orders to protect his daughter,'' Gorman said. "Mr. Mills and Legal Aid of Western Ohio Inc. remain focused on the law and not on the publicity generated by Stacey Doss.''

Gorman said Mills is doing everything he can within the legal system to regain custody.

"For most people, it is difficult to imagine anything more painful to a father than having his child offered up for adoption in a distant state without his knowledge or consent,'' Gorman said. "That is exactly what happened in this case.''

On Friday, Orange County Superior Court Judge Michael Naughton relinquished jurisdiction in the case during a closed-door conference call with a judge in Montgomery County, Ohio, who recently ordered that Vanessa be returned to the state where she was born.

Doss' attorneys hope to get an appellate panel this week to temporarily halt Naughton's ruling while her appeal of the Ohio decision is pending.

If the appellate court justices do not stay Naughton's ruling, the girl will be initially placed in foster care in Montgomery County until officials sort out with whom she should be placed.

"The court and the Montgomery County Children Services Board will ensure the child is protected and properly cared for in Ohio,'' Gorman said.

Doss has said that based on last week's hearing, it's likely her foster daughter will be placed with Mills' mother. The father — who according to Doss has four other children — was granted nightly visits, according to Doss.

"Good Morning America'' identified the girl's birth mother as Andrea Conley, 31, of Dayton, Ohio, and reported that she left a message of support for Doss on her MySpace page.

"I've never revealed her name because I try to respect her privacy,'' Doss said. "I'm glad she said something. I wish she'd say more, but I know she's afraid ...''

Doss said Conley's parents reached out to her through an NBC reporter after Friday's ruling.

Doss decided to go to the adoption route after years of unsuccessful attempts to get pregnant and was linked by an agency with Vanessa's birth mother, who agreed to give up custody upon the baby's birth.

The mother had claimed the pregnancy was the result of a one-night stand and that the father was not Mills, with whom she has had a longstanding and reportedly contentious relationship, but genetic tests proved otherwise, Doss said.

Gorman said her client "is not a latecomer in the life of his daughter.''

"Mr. Mills and his other daughter visited his then-newborn daughter in the hospital, and he has traveled to see her in California on several occasions,'' she said.

"Even before his baby was removed to California, Mr. Mills filed a complaint in Ohio seeking custody of her and a complaint to determine his paternity, and he registered with the Ohio Putative Father Registry, a government list which allows biological fathers to give legal notice that they claim paternity for a child born outside of marriage,'' Gorman said.

The NBC affiliate in Dayton, Ohio, reported Tuesday that the Montgomery County Department of Job and Family Services has an open case involving child endangering allegations against Mills.

The station also reported that Mills served eight months in prison for domestic violence against Conley and that his driver's license has been suspended several times for failure to pay child support.

Gorman did not address whether Mills had a criminal record.

Meanwhile, friends are trying to raise money to help Doss, who said her home has twice fallen into the initial stages of foreclosure because of her mounting legal bills.

"I'm in terrible trouble,'' she said. "The first thing I did was go into my savings and I sold my wedding ring.''

When given a choice between paying the attorneys or her mortgage, she said she opted to pay her legal bill.

"I figured I can get a new house, but I can't get a new Vanessa,'' Doss said.

The public relations consultant said her house is again in danger of falling into foreclosure again, but she recently landed a new client and hopes to modify her home loan.

Doss appeared on "Good Morning America'' alongside former prosecutor Robin Sax, who recently reached out to Doss and arranged Wednesday's interview.

"I look at her like a guardian angel,'' Doss said, adding that since she has taken her story public, she has been overwhelmed with offers of help and money from Ohio to California.

"Saturday morning when I was at Trader Joe's, people stopped me and gave me cash and told me they were praying for me,'' Doss said.