Ex-child star says he's the father of Jackson's daughter

CTV.ca ^ | Sun. Aug. 9 2009 | Staff

[canuck_conservative]

Former child star Mark Lester claims he's the biological father of Michael Jackson's daughter Paris, who shows a striking resemblance to one of his children.

Lester is a longtime friend of Jackson, and says the King of Pop once asked him to donate sperm. He told the British tabloid "News of the World" that he agreed and gave a sample to a London clinic.

In a video interview posted on the tabloid's website, Lester said he came forward with his claim because he has "concerns about the welfare and upbringing of the children."

"It's a contact issue," he said. "I dearly want to remain in contact with those kids and I feel now this is the only way I can ensure that."

He said Paris has the same high cheekbones, fair skin and blue eyes as his 15-year-old daughter Harriet.

The 51-year-old former actor is famous for playing the lead role of "Oliver!" in the 1968 movie version.

He first met Jackson 27 years ago when the singer's manager set up a meeting. Lester lives in Cheltenham, about 160 kilometers west of London.

Lester said he donated his sperm when Jackson was married to Debbie Rowe.

"She's the birth mother of the children so I naturally assumed the sperm donation would obviously have gone into Debbie and Debbie would have borne the children," he said.

With files from The Associated Press

[Krankor]

I'm the Daddy!

[Richard Kimball]

Jack Wild, the Artful Dodger passed away in 2006. His findagrave memorial He looked awful towards the end.

[bgill]

Never heard of him so did a search, cough. Glad you posted the clothed image.

[AHerald]

freakazoids...robots...please report to the dance floor ...

[Burkean]

So none of the kids are biologically related—the older son is the child of Rowe and the doctor, the daughter comes from Lester’s sperm and a donor egg, and allegedly the younger son is Jackson’s and an unknown surrogate, who herself may not be the biological mother.

[Spunky]

Nope! Paris has dark hair and a darker complexion. We know Debbie is blonde and light complected and so is Lester.

[Cedar]

Funny!

[leilani]

I thought I'd read somewhere that Debi Rowe or whatever her name was was not the egg donor, that essentially she just rented her womb out. That's not correct?

If it is true, though, Paris' different coloring could have been provided by the bio mom. I have to say the 2 girls' bone structures offer some intriguing similarities to my eye, unschooled though it is, except for some training in sculpture.

But hey, it might not have even been necessary that the egg donor was brunette at all, since this is Michael Jackson's wacky household and we know he was into 'expressing himself' cosmetically. Her darker coloring could have been provided by Clairol & Tan-in-a-Can at Dad's direction, for all we know.

[Spunky]

"I thought I'd read somewhere that Debi Rowe or whatever her name was was not the egg donor, that essentially she just rented her womb out. That's not correct?"

Debbie Rowe is the biological mother of the first two children. There was a surrogate for the third child "Blanket"

[SuziQ]

Must be commonplace in Hollywood. David Crosby donated his sperm for Melissa Etheridge’s two kids.

[leilani]

Well, I knew the third one had nothing to do with Rowe. But there seems to be some dispute that she was anything more than a surrogate for the first two who were allegedly conceived in vitro without the genetic contribution of either Rowe or Jackson.:

Jackson/Rowe Not The Bilogical Parents (via TMZ)

[CaptainK]

Unless the mother is a bottle blond

[Spunky]

Not sure who or what TMZ is, but their assertion that Debi isn't the biological mother leaves a lot to be desired.

"Since Rowe was married to Jackson when Michael Jr. and Paris were born, there's a presumption that she's the biological parent. That presumption can be rebutted by other evidence. What evidence?

"We know there are documents outlining the whole arrangement for the birth of all three kids. Nonetheless, it's still an open issue with the courts.

Where are these documents? Lets see them.

[leilani]

Yep, you're probably right according to a 2003 interview with her. Now she says she's willing to take a maternity test to prove more recent claims that she wasn't the egg donor false.(I confess I never followed this story closely back when it happened.)