A terminally ill mother who lost custody of  her children after she was diagnosed with breast cancer has died.

Alaina Giordano, 38, passed away at her  parents’ home with her son and daughter by her side after a judge agreed to let  her spend her final weeks with them.

Miss Giordano fought a high-profile legal  battle with her estranged husband after a judge ruled that he should have  custody of their children following her diagnosis with terminal breast  cancer.

According to a post on Miss Giordano’s  Facebook campaign page she passed away on Monday morning, but friends had waited  until after the funeral on Friday to announce it publicly.

Miss Giordano’s friend Peter Kaufmann wrote: ‘On the morning of Monday, June 25th, my dear friend Alaina, daughter, sister,  loving mother and courageous example to thousands all over the world, ended her  battle with stage 4 cancer. I resist using the word “succumbed” because Alaina  has not lost this battle…and her death will not be in vain.

‘Thanks to all of you – her tireless  supporters in the tens of thousands – who helped spread the word about her  plight, who donated in any way they could, and who sent their prayers and wishes  to her from afar – her family and close friends truly thank you for making her  final year as tolerable as it could possibly be.’

The Facebook message said that Miss Giordano  spent her final weeks at her family’s home in Pennsylvania.

She was reportedly given temporary custody of  her children after an emergency motion was put before a family court  judge.

Mr Kauffman wrote: ‘Throughout this entire  struggle I want to emphasise how much I admired and respected Alaina’s dignity  and perseverance. She never complained once about her circumstances and faced  her mortality with unwavering bravery.’

The mother-of-two was first diagnosed with  cancer in 2007, but her condition worsened as it spread to her  bones.

After the couple separated in January 2010,  her husband Kane Snyder sought to gain full permanent custody of their  children.

A judge ruled in Mr Snyder’s favour after a  psychiatrist recommended that they should live with him because of the ‘deteriorating condition of the mother’s health’.

A Facebook campaign in support of Miss  Giordano was launched and she made appearances on shows including The Today  Show, but following a number of appeals the children moved to live with their  father in August last year.

Miss Giordano called the verdict ‘shocking’ and said: ‘Anybody who knows me knows my children are my life. They are what  give me strength.’

Court papers show that Miss Giordano and Mr  Snyder both were arrested and spent a night in jail after a September 2009  fight, and both obtained and dropped restraining orders against each  other.

The ruling also detailed mutual allegations  of mistreatment and infidelity, and said both parents 'place their children in  the middle of their divorce and unnecessarily expose them to the conflict so the  children are compelled to choose sides'.

Mr Snyder has not spoken publicly, but a  lawyer representing him last year said the case has been badly misconstrued in  public.