Custody Debate May Center on Jackson Women

The custody hearing for Michael Jackson's three children has been delayed two more weeks, but the speculation over who will raise the pop star's kids is being hotly debated, with the Jackson women at center stage.

CBS News correspondent Hattie Kauffman reported on "The Early Show" Monday that Janet Jackson, Michael's sister, Katherine, his mother, and Rebbie Jackson, Michael's older sister, have joined forces.

"These women have taken such a big role with these children," said Melanie Bromley, of Us magazine. "Katherine is wonderful with them, she's looking after them. She's the primary kind of caregiver at the moment. Rebbie has also brought up children herself. She's a very good mother."

But what about Janet?

"Inside Edition" 's Jim Moret told Kauffman the superstar singer would raise the children if they want her to.

Bromley said Janet was very close to Michael, and "it's important for her to be there for the children."

Bromley added, "(Jackson) has to be a strong woman to the children, a mother figure to the children that Jackson has left behind."

But it's an especially tough time for Janet now, Kauffman reported. Along with losing her brother, the singer recently split with her long-time boyfriend, Jermaine Dupri.

But would the children be better off being raised by someone who's stayed largely out of the spotlight, and has already raised children?

Rebbie, Michael's older sister, and her husband, are well-suited to raise Jackson's three children for those reasons, according to Rebbie's former manager, Bruce Kramer. Kramer managed Rebbie during her short-lived recording career.

"(Rebbie) didn't have any of the Jacksons trappings that you think of when you think of the Jacksons. She was special," he said. " …(Rebbie and her husband) are great parents, and I think that's what those children need right now, people who have a history of it, and have done it, and will do it again, if given that opportunity."

Michael's kids, Michael Joseph Jackson Jr., known as Prince, Paris Michael Katherine Jackson, and Prince Michael Jackson II, known as Blanket, have been staying at the Jackson family home in Encino, Calif., with Michael's mother, Katherine Jackson, as called for in Michael's will.