Debbie Rowe

Michael Jackson with his three children Paris, Prince, and Blanket (the first two of which are the oldest and were born by Rowe), in Disneyland Resort Paris in 2006.

It was announced she was pregnant in 1996, and the two were married on November 14, 1996, in Sydney, Australia.

She gave birth to a son, Michael Joseph Jackson Jr.[1] (born February 13, 1997 at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles),[10] who was subsequently nicknamed Prince.[11] The next year she gave birth to a daughter, Paris Jackson[1] (born April 3, 1998 at Spaulding Pain Medical Clinic in Beverly Hills in Los Angeles).[12] Rowe later stated that she had never had sex with Jackson.[13][14] Further reports alleged that the relationship was an "economic" one; Rowe was in it for the money and Jackson sought a baby.[15][16] Jackson took full responsibility for raising the children.[8][17]

Rowe, who described herself as a private person and almost never gave interviews, was overwhelmed by the publicity that came with being married to Jackson.[8] The couple divorced on October 8, 1999, and Rowe gave full custody rights of the children to Jackson. Rowe received an US$8 million settlement and a house in Beverly Hills, California.[18] Court documents indicated she had signed a prenuptial agreement and therefore could not obtain an equal division of community property under California law.[19]

In 2001, Rowe went to a private judge to have her parental rights for the two children terminated.[18] In 2004, after Jackson was charged with 10 counts of child abuse, she went to court to have the decision reversed.[20] According to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Rowe, who is Jewish, sought the reversal in part because she feared the nanny and some of Jackson's siblings were exposing the children to teachings of the Nation of Islam.[21] Court documents from 2005 noted that "[b]ecause she is Jewish, Deborah feared the children might be mistreated if Michael continued the association."[22] On the stand, in the 2005 People v. Jackson case, she explained that she had been allowed limited visits to her children, for eight hours every 45 days.[23]

In 2005, Rowe sold her Beverly Hills house for $1.3 million and bought a ranch in Palmdale.[24] In 2006, she sued Jackson for one immediate payment of $195,000 and one payment of $50,000 to pursue a child custody case.[20] Jackson was ordered to pay her $60,000 in legal fees.[25]