Michael Jackson’s dermatologist Dr. Arnold Klein went on Larry King Live last night. When asked if he was the father of Jackson’s kids he admitted that he’d donated sperm at one point, but said that if it was used to sire Jackson’s two older children with Debbie Rowe, who used to work in his office, he is unaware of it. Yesterday Klein told Diane Sawyer on Good Morning America that “to the best of my knowledge I am not the father.” Now we know what he meant.
From the way he words his response he definitely makes it sound like Jackson’s two older children were conceived by artificial insemination. In a 2003 interview for “Living With Michael Jackson, Part 2,” a rebuttal to the Martin Bashir series, Michael insisted that Paris and Prince Michael II were conceived naturally with Debbie (link leads to video, quote from Michael is at 5:20, Debbie’s is at 8:48) and Debbie said that “Paris” was named after the place of her conception. She didn’t explicitly state that she conceived the children with Michael, however.
Klein says that the issue of paternity for the Jackson children should be between the kids and whoever their biological father is. I guess we can assume it’s not Michael, which has long been speculated given their lighter skin coloring. He’s vague when it comes to the issue of what possibly happened to his sperm, and keeps talking about what a great dad Michael is to emphasize the point that the biological dad isn’t that important. Klein also says that if he’s the father he’ll take full responsibility for his children though, and he repeatedly praises them as very smart and well behaved:
KING: Now, what about all the rumors about you and the fathering of those children?
KLEIN: Here’s the most important thing. Michael loved those children as a father. Those children loved him as a father. As far as I am concerned, that’s the most important grouping that is.
KING: That’s not answering the question.
KLEIN: No, because I’m not going to answer it the way you want me to answer it, because…
KING: Well, you can say no.
KLEIN: I can say no, then. I will say no if that’s what you want to hear.
KING: No, I want to hear what you know.
KLEIN: What I will tell you is I think what’s most important thing about this whole thing, to end this thing, is that the most important thing in who the father is who the father is — who the children want their father to be.
And I will tell you this, I will say no, because the most important person to these children is how Michael loved them and how he loved his children and how they loved him. Because they would never pass him without saying, I love you, daddy. He would say I love you. I’ve never seen such emotional care…
(CROSSTALK)
KING: Earlier today, you said you couldn’t answer that one way or the other.
KLEIN: I still can’t answer it absolutely one way or another.
KING: So that means you donated sperm?
KLEIN: I once donated sperm. I don’t know that you have to know…
KING: You donated to him.
KLEIN: No, absolutely not.
KING: Oh, you donated sperm to a sperm bank.
KLEIN: Once, to a sperm bank. But I don’t think I should go over my legal affairs, because I think to the best of my knowledge, I’m not the father. I want to tell you that this discussion, however, is between Michael, his children and this person. It’s not to be discussed who the father is over national television…
KLEIN: if they want me to take a DNA test, they can have my DNA. I don’t care at this point.
KING: Your concern is the kids.
KLEIN: My concern is his kids because I’ve never met children like this. These are the brightest children I’ve ever met, the best behaved children I’ve ever met. They come over my house, they behave wonderfully. I know how deeply he loved them and how deeply they loved him.
KING: That’s obvious. KLEIN: I don’t want to destroy this relationship in any way, shape or form. I’ll tell you this, no matter what, I will protect these children…
KING: About the children, this is hypothetical. If you were the parent, this is hypothetical, would you go and talk to them? Would you do something about it? Would you let it ride?
KLEIN: If I was the parent, I would spend every moment of the day with the children.
KING: You’d become their father?
KLEIN: Absolutely.
[From Transcripts.CNN.com, emphasis added]
If you look at the photo US Weekly has of Dr. Klein with the children he really looks like he could be their dad. He has similar features and it seems like a distinct possibility. He’s being cagey about this whole issue and I would bet he knows more than just the fact that he once donated sperm to a sperm bank. What’s his motivation for talking to the press though? Does he hope to clear up some of the rumors about Jackson and make his memory a little more human to the public? In a moment I’ll cover more of this interview as Klein revealed quite a bit about Jackson’s health problems and the work he was doing to rebuild his face. Jackson went through a lot over the past twenty years and learning about it did help humanize him to me. I’m not sure that Klein is without his personal motivations for coming forward, though.
I think those kids deserve to know who their biological parents are, seriously.
The kids especially need to know.
Is there anyone not willing to step foward and say they are more than willing to take these children? Why doesn’t some one ask the children what they want and who they would be the most comfotable with? It seems to me that all involved are more conserned about their few minutes of fame and the big pay day involved with taking those kids.
I am sure now that he is their biological father and he knows it. I thought at first that he was being cagey just to feed the frenzy and have his 15 minutes of fame but if you you look closely, Prince looks like him a bit. It may also explain why he is close enough to have christmas with them. I am also still scratching my head over what is motivating him to have all these interviews.
Ergo, I hope no one gives him these poor children because he seems like a vulture like all of them.
These kids were pretty much isolated from the real world all of their lives – how would they know who they would want to stay with? It takes a village to raise a child and between all of the Jackson family members and their friends, the kids will be well taken care of.
Carrie clearly you missed all of the news that in Michael’s will he wanted his mother or Diana Ross to take the kids. Debbie Rowe is going to sue for custody probably on Monday. That’s when there is a custody hearing. I’m sure other family members would step-up if a judge thinks that the mother and Diana are too old to take the kids. Also since two of the kids are older (11,12?) the judge would probably want to know what they think.
here is my opinion…..I think that debbie and Dr. Arnold had an ongoing affair and conceived these children and gave them to Michael as a cover up or Michael paid them a huge amount of cash to father them……i just feel so sorry for these children.
Did anyone else think the kids looked darker for the memorial service? Paris especially looked spray tanned and her hair dyed. The older boy used to be very blonde and fair, now he has dark brown hair and browned skin. And Blanket’s hair was pitch black, wasn’t he blonde at some point? Think this was done on purpose?
Maybe Kline is the donor,and the reason they used his sperm(or anyone else’s) was because of the Rx addiction MJ had. I don’t know if MJ was on all the meds when the kids were conceived,and if he was,maybe they didn’t want to run the risk of having something wrong with the kids.
Blankets hair was pitch black in other pictures with MJ you should google it and see the most recent pictures they took of them before MJ passed same with Paris and Prince.
http://bossip.files.wordpress.com/2009/03/michael_jackson_kids.jpg
http://image.examiner.com/images/blog/wysiwyg/image/MichaelJackson%27skidsunmasked(2).jpg
Anyway, It doesn’t matter who the biological father is MJ was their father and he wanted them to be with his mother/Diana we should respect his last wish.
@ jen – I noticed how much darker the kids looked, as well. It could have been make-up, it could have been natural. Even very fair haired children may turn into brunettes when they’re older. As for the skin, I’m a little skeptical of how they could have tanned that much, given a) the fact that they were hidden under veils and masks for so long, and b) that even when they were finally unveiled, they were still very isolated from the outside world.
Kristinarenee – I totally agree. That’s my theory also.
This is a disgrace. Since when did it become acceptable to question adoptive or non-biological parents and ask for a disclosure of the identity of a sperm donor?
It does not matter who the biological parents are. If the kids wish, when they are older, to find that out they may take the steps to do so. But it nobody else’s business. There are thousands of kids who have been conceived via IVF, sperm/egg donations, using a surrogate etc.
But the identities of the donors/surrogates are always protected and rightly so. If the adoptive parent dies, that still is not enough reason for an identity disclosure of the biological parents. Can you imagine donating sperm and then next thing you know, all these halfwits asking you to “step up & take responsibility”?
jen and omondieu, I though the same as well, I can understand their hair going from fine blonde to dark brown/black because that is what happened to me when I got older but their skin tone, judging by previous photos of them, seemed noticeably darker. Maybe the Jackson family did spay tanned (lol) the kids to make them look like they fitted in and resembled with the rest of the Jackson family. Who knows, I would not put it past them.
As for Dr. Arnold Klein, I just hope for the sake of the kids he is not the biological father. Blah!
I’m sure MJ let them play in the pool, why would they not tan while playing in the sun?
I don’t think Debbi Rowe would be stepping up so fast if these kids were not getting Michael J’s money. I know these kids will elect to stay with the Jackson if they have a choice. The Jacksons are the only family these kids know. It’s cruel to try and take them because you need money.
I agree with B,
Anonymous sperm and egg donation should remain anonymous, unless the kids have matured to legal consent age and want to find out for themselves (privately!!)
At least Dr. Klein knows the kids. Debbie Rowe has no place in their lives, and hasn’t for the past 11-12 years… On the other hand, betrayl from a friend sometimes hurts worse, and Klein should really stop his media tour if he wants to continue to know and help the children.
Yes, the kids deserve to know their biological father/mother. However, that is their (and theirs alone) decision. It’s up to them, why is the media so curious who is the father, the mother. This is just a case of someone (in the person of Michael Jackson) who wants to have kids and did something with it. He’s dead now, leave him alone.
And obviously, Debbie Rowe is not interested to have these kids as her own. She did it for the money. She did her job and got paid for it, period.
Are we all so heartless, that even those young kids we have a need to exploit and turn into pieces for our own juicy gossips needs?! I mean, enough already.
So what happens if everybody finds out who the real father/mother of these kids. Is that something that could really contribute to the happiness of the kids left by Michael. Who are we to decide for them?
I mean really, would you do this to someone you know and care about?
I’m with BB and Kath. This is disgusting. It is inappropriate to ask any of these people about this. (and totally unfair to those kids to fill the airwaves with this disrespectful bullshit, too)
Sara Sarasin, you are so right with your final question. I wish more people would ask themselves that.
No, not even the kids have a right to know. Neither do any children conceived by anonymous sperm donation, ANONYMOUS being the operative word. Adopted children only have a right to know if the biological parent allows it. There is a long history of reasons for the laws that dictate this stuff. Yeah, it means a little difficulty from time to time, not knowing their full personal medical history, but that is true for most adopted children, sperm/egg donor kids.
It was known in the LA community that MJ was not the bio-dad, and Debbie was the bio-mom.
Is he attempting a CYA? Was this to deflect any possible charges against him? Do Klein and Rowe plan to insist on DNA tests and seek custody? More to be revealed.
As a parent of a racially combined children, my daughter has light brown hair and her skin tone could be described as dark brown, my son on the other hand has sandy blond hair with green eyes and has light brown skin..when they were younger they were blond..and lighter skinned, as they grew older their skin tones changed. Genetics is a delightful roll of the dice. MJ and the kids were related by a father/child relationship, they were a family, ask any adopted child who their parents are, or ask any step-child who was lovely raised by a step-parent who their family is..we live in a time in which genetics has little meaning in the quality of life, unconditional love and guidance are key to parenthood rather than who’s sperm or who’s egg created a beautiful child.
How do we know that the kids dont already know who their biological Father is? None of us know anything about these people……who really cares anyway? I watched this interview last night on LK and I could not stand the way Klein kept looking upwards! His eye movement is abnormal.
It’s summertime and the kids live in LA, where a lot of people have pools, so of course they’re going to be tanned. Prince’s hair is “darker now” only because MJ freakishly bleached the poor baby’s hair white-blonde when he was very young.
The kids are going to want to live with Katherine, but it’s not a practical move. I predict joint custody will be the outcome – but with whom, can’t tell yet. I don’t think this guy should get them – he’s skeevy and looks like he might keel over from a heart attack himself any day now. Also, he’s hiding information, so why is he going on Larry King?
MJ’s body’s gonna be on ice for awhile longer looks like, and this custody matter is going to take awhile.
I’m just glad for the kids that, no matter where they end up, it’s going to be a sight more normal than the masked, caged existence they had before all this.
One point: Does anybody else think it’s a bit codependent of them to be constantly fawning over their notoriously insecure dad? I think all of it was very much unhealthy. Including the constant reassurances of their love. That’s unnecessarily clingy.
He donated to a sperm bank and so that’s why he believes there’s a chance? Bullshit. BULL-SHIT. If he’d donated to a sperm bank, he’d just say “Well, there’s a very slim chance”, not “I can’t say either way.” He gave it to them directly. Period. Michael was probably collecting up samples from other people, too. Maybe that accounts for the “I don’t know” part.
Dee, children are not property. MJ can’t give them away.
As far as codependency, their father just died. He was who they spend most of their time with. Of course, they are freaked out and clingy. For children, that is perfectly normal.
Oh and on the theory of Klein and Rowe simply conceiving the kids “the old fashioned way”…I’ve been thinking that for awhile now, wouldn’t it be a hoot?
Raven, I meant past-tense their whole lives, not now, after their father has died. I wasn’t very clear.
gg – I guess I am sad to figure out that you and your dad didn’t use the l-word together. I love mine; I’ve said it out loud to other people, too (GASP). It isn’t fawning or codependent to tell your parent you love them… or for them to tell you the same.
As to your idea that their very day-to-day life was “caged”… we don’t know that. Until one of them is in their twenties and writes a memoir, we won’t know that. Yeah, they wore masks when out in public with their father. This was actually a brilliant move, because until his death we the nasty, cruel public only had a very vague idea of what they looked like. They could have been out frequently with other people and we wouldn’t have given them a second glance. They grew up mainly on enormous estates, too, so it’s not like they were confined to a one bedroom apartment. Unless you were a close personal friend of the family, I don’t think your ideas are any truer than mine. And if you WERE a close personal friend of the family, I would think you were pretty shitty for being on a gossip page spreading their personal lives around.
I wish Janet Jackson could become their guardian. In watching the memorial service you can see that she is genuinely caring of them. Paris turned to her after her speech and so did Prince Michael. I think Janet Jackson is the one person in all of this who loves those children for who they are and would be an excellent mother.
Seriously, who cares who the biological father/sperm donor is. Michael Jackson is the only father these kids know since day one. If they want to know, let them do it on their own, when they are older and ready. People should just let the Jackson family handle this themselves as per MJ’s will. Debbie and Michael had an agreement, she did her part and that was it. She gave up rights to the kids back then, so whatever MJ wants for the kids is his decision and she has no rights to argue (it’d be a different story if there was no agreement in the first place and she lost custody of the kids, ie. divorce battle). I don’t understand why she now thinks she should fight to get the kids now. Just because they are famous doesn’t mean they have to reveal everything to the public. It’s the children’s private lives…keep it that way.
PT Brian Oxman a former spokesman for the family said the kids are actually closer to Latoya. Janet has lived primarily in Atlanta with Jermaine dupree for several years so she has rarely seem them .Latoya lives at the family home with Katherine.Janet was standing next to her so obviously she gravitated toward her.Janet has been estanged from Michael since 2007 when she tried to stage an intervention in Vegas
SO flippin’ stupid: people here are commenting ‘how could they be so dark now,after all those years under the veils’….
JUST because their faces were covered when MJ took them to places where he knew there would be paps…does NOT mean they lived a 24/7 life in a mask.
Seriously,are you for real?
And,yes,they did see others…regularly.
And,yes,homeschooled kids can and do function as real,live people.
Just sayin’….
They looked darker to me in the pics right before MJ died,as well. but you know what? I had never seen them before,cuz they always wore masks…so what do I know?
Also,blanket always had dark hair;the older boy used to have died blonde,but the recent pics of him w/MJ showed the natural brown hair.
someone mentioned tiko brando as blanket’s possible donor…
all the kids have a bit of tahitian looking blood in them,to be honest,and marlon brando,to boot…
[MB was a friend of MJ’s,and tiko was his bodyguard].
So,who knows?
but to claim they are being darkened is just ludicrus.
And,it does not matter.
The Jacksons are the only family these kids know. They do know these people. And have spent time with them before.
Oh,and,people do spend Christmas with people other than family. So,the reasoning that Klein must be the dad b/c of that-is not logical.
If he’s a good friend,that may be the reason.
I have no idea.
But these ‘theories’ leave alot to be desired,people.
do you think we may be surprised they are darker due to all the media speculation that his kids were ‘white’….yet,how often have we seen them unmasked?
And,it’s summer. my son’s certainly darker now than in winter…and he’s blond and blue eyed.