Michael Jackson's daughter, Paris, is my child, actor Mark Lester saysMichael Jackson's daughter, Paris, is my child, actor Mark Lester says
Saturday, August 8th 2009, 9:16 PM
Bouys/Pool
Michael Jackson's daughter, Paris Jackson, broke hearts at the King of Pop's memorial service when she referred to him as 'Daddy' and 'the best father you could ever imagine.'
Columbia Pictures
Former child star Mark Lester, however, says that he believes Paris to be his daughter.
TMZ.com
If the Jackson children had any other father, though, they've never seemed aware of it.
British child star Mark Lester says he's the father of Michael Jackson's daughter, Paris.
"I gave Michael my sperm so that he could have kids - and I believe Paris is my daughter," said Lester, who played Oliver Twist in the 1967 flick "Oliver."
The 51-year-old told Britain's News of the World he gave Jackson his semen 13 years ago and is godfather to all three of Jackson's children.
He believes Paris, 11, is his daughter because of an "uncanny likeness" between the girl and his own daughter, Harriet, 15. He wants to take a paternity test.
Lester said he donated his sperm at a London clinic while 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 in a video posted on the paper's Web site.
He said he's coming forward now because he has "concerns about the welfare and upbringing of the children."
"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.
Jackson and Lester were friends for more than 25 years and he reportedly spent the day with the Jackson kids after their father's memorial service last month.
"The kids seemed to be coping quite well and they are surrounded by their family right now," he said at the time. "They are very polite and quite quiet kids, and despite all the publicity surrounding them and their family, they are trying to keep things as normal as possible at home."