Following weeks of speculation it has been confirmed that the late singer Michael Jackson may indeed have another child. There was much buzz online about dancer Omer Bhatti after he attended the memorial service for the pop superstar. Bhatti reportedly sat in the front row with the family. A quote attributed to him on the Dailymail website stated, “He looks like a Jackson, he acts like a Jackson and he can dance like a Jackson. This boy’s a fantastic dancer – as a matter of fact, he teaches dance.”

Michael Jackson had reportedly revealed to friends in 2004 that he had a one night stand that had produced Bhatti. The young dancer is now staying with the Jacksons at their home in Encino, California. Previously Bhatti denied being Jackson’s son saying that he was just his “best friend”. He and his family had moved to Jackson’s Neverland ranch in 1996, where his mom and dad ended up on Jackson’s staff as a nanny and driver respectively.

Debbie Rowe

Michael Jackson’s 79-year old mother Katherine currently has custody of his three other children. Initially it was felt that there would be a battle with the biological mother of two of the children, Debbie Rowe (pictured left). In an interview on The Early Show, Jackson’s lawyer revealed that Rowe will have visitation rights. The new agreement will not provide for any additional money to Rowe.

Jermaine Jackson had been quoted as saying before the latest revelation, “If Omer’s his son, he’s his son. We won’t deny it. We are going to give him the same love and care that we give Prince and Paris and Blanket. I can’t clearly say if he is Michael’s but I saw this kid around him.” He also revealed that it was the oldest sister Rebbie who moved Omer closer to Katherine Jackson during the memorial service.

Many onlookers commented on how much Omer looked like the Jacksons as he sat with them. In fact some feel that he bears a resemblance to Michael’s youngest son Blanket. Interestingly, Blanket is believed to be the result of donor egg and sperm so any resemblance would be purely coincidental. It is not clear for how long Joe Jackson knew that Omer was Michael’s son. He said “I knew Michael had another son – yes, I did.” Omer is reportedly seeking to have DNA tests done to be certain.

What this will mean for the estate of Michael Jackson as well as his legacy is yet to be seen. No doubt because of the scandals that hounded him throughout his life, many people will await the DNA test results before believing this latest twist to the King of Pop’s life.

It would seem that the Jackson family is pretty close knit, so it is good that he would be welcomed in to such a loving setting. Hopefully Jackson’s children will be afforded a level of privacy that he never knew after he became a star.

Last week two showbiz icons from my youth passed away. For me, Farrah Fawcett was always the sexiest of the Charlie’s Angels from my childhood TV years and Michael Jackson was always the youngest and cutest of the Jackson Five’s and I will always remember him – not for “Thriller” or “Billy Jean” – but for childhood favorites like “Happy” and “Ben”. (Huh, am I giving away my age?)

But these two people are not only celebrities – they are also parents. So what happens to the children when celebrities pass away? The ones who have the normal family set up such as the children of Natasha Richardson seem to fare rather well despite tragically losing their mom. However, I can imagine that things can become complicated in the case of the so-called “patchwork” families. Do they get tangled in custody battles and fights over wills? Do they end up rich like Dannielynn, Anna Nicole Smith’s daughter or end up with nothing like Heath Ledger’s daughter Matilda Rose?

Farrah Fawcett has a 24-year old son with her long time partner Ryan O’Neal. At least he is already an adult and can probably manage on his own despite his drug problems.

Michael Jackson’s family set up is a bit more complicated. He leaves behind three children from two relationships for whom he had full custody. From his second marriage, he had a son Prince Michael Joseph Jr. (12), and a daughter Paris Michael Katherine (11). He had another son Prince Michael Jackson II (7) in 2002 but the identity of the mother was never revealed, although there are speculations that he was born through a surrogate mother implanted with an embryo fertilized with Jackson Sr.’s sperm. With Michael Jackson’s untimely death, I wonder whether he has provided properly for his children, considering the financial problems he had been having lately.

I can imagine that celebrities, especially superstars, can sometimes feel invincible. Even at middle age and beyond, death seems very remote. Does it occur to them that they can’t live forever and that their kids might become orphans? I feel sad for them, but I feel even more for their children especially if they are as young as Michael Jackson’s children. I hope that they won’t be caught in nasty court battles about custody, paternity/maternity and money. I hope that they will be protected from the relentless media coverage.

The deaths of Fawcett and Jackson made me ask myself questions about  life and death, about my children and my family.

How about us who are “mere mortals”? Are we prepared for all eventualities? Do we know what would happen to our children in case something happens to us?

These days it seems like people try to wring humor from just about every situation. Recently it was reported online that actor Ashton Kutcher planned to re-enact Michael Jackson’s baby dangling stunt, and he actually went ahead with it.

In fact, the star of movies like Guess Who and The Guardian went a bit further and actually threw a baby doll from his hotel window. Apparently Kutcher found out at some point the hotel room he was staying in was the same one where the actual incident took place. This is the kind of publicity that the Hotel Adlon in Berlin could probably do without.

Kutcher, who is famous for his prank show Punked, actually posted clips of himself online as he got the doll ready for his little stunt. He even did commentary for the video, showing himself looking up and describing the scene to his audience. A website quoted him as saying in the video, “Moving into position. The baby is in place. Michael should be appearing any time now… Here he is. There’s Michael. Michael’s holding the baby. The baby has been thrown. It happened and you saw it here live.”

Certainly nobody wants to restrict anyone’s freedom of speech or expression. However, I can’t help but wonder if there was anything even remotely funny about Michael Jackson dangling his baby from a hotel balcony. Even after so much time has passed my feeling hasn’t changed on this.

I guess some people will say that what he was doing is harmless, and it probably is. But really that is not the point. Like many others, I have from time to time wondered about Michael Jackson’s mental state. This is especially important in the context of his fall from grace, his debts etc. Nobody wants to think about what could have happened if he had lost his grip on that baby, but we can all thank God that he didn’t.

Bottom line, Ashton Kutcher’s stunt wasn’t funny. And it was making light of a situation that wasn’t funny to begin with. However , I have no issue with anyone who found his stunt humorous. Everyone is different after all. Here’s hoping though that Jackson can put his personal demons to rest and get on with his life, no matter what course he intends to chart. I hope also that his children get to enjoy their childhood, especially since it has often been asserted that Jackson was denied his.