Debbie Rowe: Mother of the Year. Not.

Who knows what the real story is there. From the interviews I've read with her over the years, I think she's a bit of a flake too, but I also think Jackson managed to frighten her and muzzle her and keep her from visiting the children she gave birth to when she apparently wanted to do so. She's made attempts over the last eight years to get visitation and, by most accounts, she's been stonewalled. I think she probably started as a surrogate and chances are good she had some self esteem issues, maybe was star struck, thought she would become important and feel good by giving Michael Jackson this great gift of her children. For him she was only a vessel, a servant he paid off once she had given him what he wanted. She took the money, but it might have been a situation where she actually did want to see the kids and was denied because he was rich and powerful.

The fact that the kids' money is tied up in a trust she wouldn't get her hands on gives her credibility. So does her statement that she'll get DNA testing to prove she's the mother and that she'll undergo psychological testing. That tells me she IS the biological mother and she's serious about trying to be involved in the kids' lives. I don't think Michael Jackson was the biological father of any of those children, though he was their psychological father and probably the legal father of at least the older two since he was married to Rowe when they were born. It sounds like his white dermatologist was the sperm donor. Those kids have a right to know their actual biological parentage for medical reasons. They also have a right to know their mother. At a minimum, a judge should order that she have regular visitation and that a counselor be appointed to help with the reunification process with Rowe and the kids. If Rowe gets custody, the judge should order regular visits with the little brother and any of the Jacksons the kids were close to.

Let's hope the judge making this decision has the wisdom and courage to do it right. Deciding custody issues has got to be one of the hardest jobs a judge can do. When numerous people make claims to be a kid's custodian, someone has to decide, and that someone is usually a judge. The judge has to sort through partially true/partially false testimony and guess who's telling the truth and who would make the better parent for the kid.

Judges are human. They make mistakes. But when a judge deciding custody of a child messes up, he messes up the kids. Tough job. It's one I'm glad I don't have.