Michael Jackson's kids

While it is sad to lose a super star in death, I find the greatest tragedy is the legacy left behind to Michael Jackson's children. Prince, Paris and Blanket (as he is known) were highly protected from the public scene, which one would consider admirable on Michael's part for shielding his children from the public eye and the paparozzi. However, where were his children when he was entertaining children from all over the world? Where were they when he was having his sleep overs? Where were they when he was touring? Did Michael actually raise these children or did their nannies?

Katherine Jackson recently stated to the press that his children were happy to be around their cousins and other children their age because they weren't used to being around other kids. That they enjoyed the interaction. This statement struck a sour note inside of me. How could three children, living in a home called Neverland and a home that housed an amusement park, a zoo and millions of children as guests, not be used to playing with other children?

The story of Michael's children seems very sad. Debbie Rowe, who married him, admitted that they never lived or slept like husband and wife. She was "used" as a surrogate for him and was artificially inseminated as she and Michael had never consummated their marriage. Now, stories of Dr. Klein, Michael's dermatologist, have come to light and it is being said that he was the sperm donor of both Prince and Paris. This would make sense being that both children are light skinned; bearing no resemblance to Michael as he would truly look, pre-surgery. One of the children even had blonde hair for much of his youth. Blanket has a darker complexion but not any characteristics of Michael's look...Michael actually took on the look of Blanket through the years. Not knowing what Blanket's mother looked like, it's hard to know his genetic makeup.

So, Michael raised three children that he called his own; but in all likelihood, they were not his legal or biological children. Is that why they were hidden away? To keep the questions from pouring out? Is that why we saw few pictures of them? So these comparisons could not be made? First, having read that Michael, upon finding out that Debbie Rowe could not carry any more children for him, snatched Paris from the moment she entered the world, wrapping her in a blanket and having a medical team and nannies waiting to care for her, makes me wonder what kind of father Michael really was. Secondly, if anyone else in this country took a child and raised them as their own, without any legal or biological rights to that child aside from paying for the surrogate, people would question the legality of this. Shouldn't Michael have gone through the red tape and paperwork that all parents wanting to adopt a child have to go through? I question why he chose Debbie Rowe. Was she someone that could be un-emotional and easily give up her children for a price? If the dermatologist is truly the sperm donor, why would he agree to father these children? Did he receive a pay-off too?

If Prince, Paris and Blanket ever have (God forbid) medical issues, it will be very important to know their correct lineage. Did Michael think of this? It seems with keeping his own children away from their relatives and other children, they were treated more as possessions instead of children. At least Bubbles the Chimp received some media attention. It had to be difficult for these kids to go out in public with their faces covered and avoid speaking to others. Think of your own children. Have you found it easy to silence them and have them blend into the woodwork when you have gone places; especially when you travel and visit areas of the world? The expectations of the Jackson children were stifling for a normal child. It sometimes seemed as if Michael was living out his own alienation through his children.

Paris spoke at her father's funeral and said she missed her daddy. The news reports that the many nannies hired to care for his children were now with Katherine assisting her. Why would Michael want his children to grow up with his father; a man he left out of his will and who he claims abused him throughout his life? I realize that he idolizes his mother but his mother lived in that same house where the abuse occurred. Will Michael's kids suffer from the same abuse? I do worry about that.

The tragic loss of Michael Jackson has resulted in something more disturbing. Three children, true parents unknown, are now living with Michael's abusive father, elderly mother and they have no mother to call their own. As much as Michael could have given them or done for them during their short lives so far, having two parents (whether together or not) eases burdens of loss for a child. I pray that these three children can form positive relationships with their cousins and relatives. I pray that they can learn to have a semi-normal existence where childhood experiences that we may have taken for granted, are made accessible to them. I hope that the three of them have felt loved and will feel love as they continue their life from this point on.

Knowing that your father was an addict, didn't want to grow up, was an androgynous human being and that he ended up dying from being over medicated doesn't leave a child with much of a legacy to be proud of. All the money in the world can't buy love and happiness. Michael Jackson was living proof of that.