Anna Nicole ...What happens to her baby Dannielynn?

I have to say I was stunned to hear the news of Anna's sudden death at age 39. She seemed larger than life (or, well thinner, thanks to TrimSpa) and hopelessly entangling herself in tragic plots. Not to mention a currently-parentless daughter, but I have to work my way there.

Her arrival into our public conciousness was a long way to come for Vicki Lynn Hogan November 28, 1967, in Mexia, Texas. Abandoned by her father, Vicki (aka Anna) was raised by her mother and aunt, commuting back and forth to each caretaker. At age 17, she become a teen Mom, having son Daniel with husband Billy Smith. Patterns repeated themselves, and Anna was shortly left to raise her son alone. To pay bills, she became a topless dancer in Houston.  A couple of  dramatic breast implants later, and Anna moved to the big time getting selected by Playboy.

From her becoming a Playboy centerfold, all the public life plot twists unfolded: marriage to an 89-year-old billionaire tycoon J. Howard Marshall and post-death lawsuits to get his money, to an awful reality show, to a new baby with unclear paternity and a mysteriously dead son Daniel at age 20 by a drug overdose, Anna seemed more infamous than famous.   

Askmen.com seems to her capture her best with this adjective list all used to describe her at one time or another: "golddigger, bodacious, vixen, plaything, conniving, innocent, moron, misguided, beautiful, and unstable."

And tragic.

Which leaves us with one 5-month-old daughter Dannielynn, a just-about-that-long husband Howard Stern, and an ex-boyfriend claiming paternity.  Patterns reverse themselves: Anna's baby is left by Mom, to be raised by Dad...If the real Dad behind Curtain # 1 can just be ascertained.

Dannielynn's birth certificate lists her father as attorney Howard Stern, Smith’s most recent companion. Smith’s ex-boyfriend Larry Birkhead has challenged paternity in a Los Angeles court, and in an emergency ruling the court has ordered Anna's body preserved for further DNA testing while the paternity issue remains unresolved (why? Beats everyone, as she's clearly the mom...unless there's another plot twist we have yet to be let in on!?).

Plus, Anna's baby inherits her Mom's ongoing lawsuit over that billionaire's fortune.

Can we all breathe a collective sigh of pity for her child? She will likely need all the public support we can muster as she comes of age and tries to make sense of all this. After all, we cannot seem to process it into a tidy package. And much of Anna's life story makes a mockery of the great American Dream, wealth and fame.

So as the plot continues to unfurl with real Dads separated from imposters, law firms pulling all-nighters wondering what to do about the estate and pending lawsuit which the Supreme Court had fairly recently remanded back to be retried locally, and Anna's body lying in hiatus while a court figures out if her DNA will be needed, I will be keeping my heart focused on that lone baby girl, inheriting a legacy fraught with tragedy.