In The Best Interest Of The Child

The world is watching as the fall out from Michael Jackson’s death continues. Still to be resolved is the issue of custody of his 3 children ages 7, 11 and 12. With no legal wife and the bizarre surrogate nature of their birth, this raises some very interesting questions about who would make the best parent for these children.

We often hear legal beagles say that the judge will determine “what is in the best interest of the child”. The answer to this should be viewed much differently if talking about an infant than when you are talking about preteen children. In the case of a newborn I can understand that the courts look primarily at “parental rights” and who has the legal right to the child. When the children are older, the courts should look FIRST at what is in the best interest of child and the “parental rights” should be secondary. As much as we hear that the courts are supposed to do this, I don’t think they really do. They make the assumption that a “blood” relative is better, which may or may not be true.

In the case of the Jackson children we have a 79-year-old grandmother who may have had little interaction with these children before now. Attached to that we have the issue of Joe Jackson and what access he would have to the kids if grandmother is granted custody. No one thinks his involvement would be a plus(including his deceased son Michael).Then there is Debbie Rowe, who gave birth to them, then gave them away and who seems pretty weird. Also in the picture is the full time nanny who has been with the children every day since their birth. We will probably see others come out to make a claim given the money involved.

Without knowing any more than what is reported about the children’s relationship with these various players, I would probably vote for the nanny. It is very likely that this person is the children’s “psychological mother” which is a bond that will last a lifetime. Furthermore, a sudden removal of one’s “psychological mother” is beyond traumatic for children. Considering that they just suddenly lost their father, losing the nanny too could be shattering to their development. I doubt that she will be given much consideration in this custody fight, but if the judge really cares about their mental health, he should definitely take her into consideration as a real viable option for custody.