Loss of both parents

The word comes from the Greek 'orphanos' which means 'bereaved'. Originally, it meant a child whose both parents are dead. In today's complex society it has a wider use.  Orphan or 'social orphan' is used to refer to a child under the age of 16 who has either lost one or both of their parents or who is deprived of parental protection or advantage or who is found in a particularly vulnerable situation or who is alone, abandoned, lost, neglected or forsaken for any reason. In the United Kingdom the legal term orphan is a minor bereft through 'death or disappearance of, abandonment or desertion by, or separation or loss from, both parents".Another definition is a child who has been deprived of parental care and has not been adopted.

Source: International Adoption Guide