About Entertainment – Magazine – Jackson’s ex-wife in custody vow

About Entertainment – Magazine –

Debbie Rowe was married to Jackson for three years

Debbie Rowe, the ex-wife of Michael Jackson, says she will fight for custody of the two children she had with the late pop icon.

"I want my children," Ms Rowe said in an interview on Thursday with the NBC TV network in Los Angeles.

Ms Rowe is the mother of Prince Michael, 12, and Paris Michael Katherine, 11. A third child, Prince Michael II, 7, has a surrogate mother.

Jackson’s mother has been given temporary custody of the children.

The star, who was 50, died after suffering heart failure at his Los Angeles home last Thursday.

I am stepping up, I have to Debbie Rowe

In a 90-minute telephone interview, Ms Rowe said she was prepared to undergo DNA testing to prove she was the children’s biological mother.

She said she would also seek a restraining order to keep Jackson’s father, Joe, away from them, the channel’s website reported.

"I am stepping up, I have to," she said.

Ms Rowe was left out of Jackson’s will, which was drawn up in 2002 and details of which were made public this week.

"I have intentionally omitted to provide for my former wife, Deborah Jean Rowe Jackson," the document states.

Ms Rowe surrendered her parental rights in her divorce settlement with Jackson, but an appeals court later reversed the decision.

‘Gift’

In 2003, Ms Rowe appeared in footage released by Jackson in response to a controversial documentary which raised allegations of inappropriate behaviour with children by the star.

In it, Ms Rowe described her family as "non-traditional", saying her children were her gift to Jackson.

"My kids don’t call me mom because I don’t want them to," she said. "These are Michael’s children."