Dannielynn Birkhead paternity case

The Dannielynn Hope Marshall Birkhead paternity case, a.k.a. Birkhead v. Marshall, centered on a child born September 7, 2006 to Vickie Lynn Marshall (better known as Anna Nicole Smith). The child was named Dannielynn, and was registered on her birth certificate as the daughter of Vickie Lynn Marshall (Smith) and her live-in partner Howard K. Stern. Larry Birkhead, Smith's former love interest and photographer, steadfastly maintained his contention that he was the baby's father and filed a lawsuit to challenge paternity after Smith had given birth.

Besides Birkhead and Stern, bodyguard/actor Alexander Denk, Mark Hatten and Frédéric Prinz von Anhalt, among others, claimed to be the father of Smith's daughter, Dannielynn. Although Stern was listed on her birth certificate, it was not certain that he was the father. At issue in a California court was who fathered the child, who could potentially inherit millions of dollars from Smith's estate. On September 26, 2006, Stern claimed in an interview from the Bahamas with Larry King on CNN that he was the father of Smith's newborn daughter.

After much media attention, on April 10, 2007, Michael Baird, who analyzed the results of a March 21 DNA test, announced the results that confirmed Birkhead to be the father of the baby.

A little over a month after the birth, a copy of the baby's disputed second birth certificate dated October 11, 2006 was made public showing she was renamed and registered as Dannielynn Hope Marshall Stern on October 9, 2006. From September 7, 2006 to October 11, 2006 the baby was in the records as Hanna Rose Stern. After the birth of her daughter, according to G. Ben Thompson, a former boyfriend of hers who is a real-estate developer in South Carolina, Smith wanted to put him down as the father on the birth certificate, but he refused. Thompson also was not convinced the baby was his because he had a vasectomy. Although Stern is named as the father on the earlier certificate, attorney Dion Smith Jr. signed his name where Stern's signature should have been. This discrepancy made the birth certificate invalid so that it could be possible for a new birth certificate to be asked for and a DNA test sought to determine the father's identity. In April 2007 following the official results of the paternity test, Birkhead changed his daughter's surname to his last name, renaming her Dannielynn Hope Marshall Birkhead.

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