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Debbie Rowe

Debbie Rowe, mother of Prince and Paris, “Dateline” (June 25, 2010) (archived)

Michael Jackson had started to worry that he would never become a father. Hearing that, Debbie Rowe, a nurse working for Jackson’s dermatologist, came forward with an unusual offer.

DEBBIE ROWE: I said, if you want to be a daddy, I want to do it.

In 1996, she became pregnant with Jackson’s first child.  It raised eyebrows across the world, in part because it didn’t seem to be a romance. Even by the standards of what constituted typical behavior from the eccentric superstar, it was a surprise.

DEBBIE ROWE: I would never do this for money. I did this because I love him. That’s the only reason I did this.

Later that year, they were married in Sydney, Australia. Katherine Jackson was not present. Three months later, Michael Jackson, Jr. – known as Prince – was born. Debbie talked about the new father.

DEBBIE ROWE: He feeds him. He changes his diapers, he reads to him, he sings to him. If he’s on the phone, the baby is in his arms. If he’s having a meeting, the baby is there. He takes naps with him. He is there, I don’t need to be there. I don’t need to be there because Michael is. I’d have nothing to do.

A daughter, Paris, was born in 1998. A third child, Prince Michael II, known as Blanket, was born later to a surrogate mother whose identity has never been revealed.

Michael Jackson and Debbie Rowe divorced in 1999, with Debbie giving up her parental rights in return for a cash settlement and a home in Beverly Hills.