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LOS ANGELES A two-year-old has been declared an orphan after a judge ruled she has no parents. Jaycee Louise Buzzanca was bom as a result of a donor egg fertilised by donor sperm being implanted in a surrogate mother. But a month before her, birth, the man who hired the surrogate mother filed for divorce from his wife. Orange County Court Judge Robert Monarch ruled that John Buzzanca no longer has to pay his ex-wife, Luanne, $US386 ($NZ613) a month to support the toddler who bears his name.

Mr Buzzanca contended that since he had filed for divorce, he never legally became the girl's father and that, since no court determined Jaycee was a "child of the marriage," no family law court could order him to pay child maintenance. Judge Monarch, sitting in Santa Ana, supported that argument. He also ruled that Mrs Buzzanea, who has custody of the girl, "is not entitled to be declared the legal mother." The rulings mean the girl at present has no legal parents. Lawyers representing the child and Mrs Buzzanca will against the ruling. By ROBIN MCKIE