A donor whose sperm produced a daughter for a lesbian couple is to have his name struck from the child's birth certificate in Australia.
A court in Sydney ruled that the birth mother's former partner had the right to have her name on the certificate - even though the couple split in 2006.
The girl was born in 2001 after the man, known for legal reasons as BB, answered an advertisement to provide sperm to a lesbian couple.
The birth mother's name was put on the birth certificate, along with BB's.
The ABC reports a law change in 2008 allowed lesbian couples to be listed on birth certificates, but still limited the document to two parents.
The mother's former partner, known only as AA, took the New South Wales Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages to court seeking to have her name on the document in place of BB's.
In ordering the removal of the father's name, the judge said he had considerable sympathy for BB, but he did not have a contractual right to remain on the certificate.
Outside the court, BB, 58, said he still wants a relationship with his daughter. ''It's just a very bad day for fathers."