Michael Jackson vs Debbie Rowe

TMZ has obtained a ruling from a California Court of Appeal, rejecting Michael Jackson's claim that Debbie Rowe gave up her parental rights.

The decision Wednesday was a victory for Rowe in her battle over the children she had for Jackson , setting the stage for further litigation.

"A court cannot enter a judgment terminating parental rights based solely upon the parties' stipulation that the child's mother or father relinquishes those rights," the appeals court said.

In the decision, obtained by entertainment website TMZ.com, it explains that in October 1999, while they were married, Rowe and Jackson entered into an agreement that the pop star would have sole legal and physical custody of their two children, Michael Jr and Paris.

"These are his children. I had the children for him," she said at the time. "They wouldn't be on this planet if it wasn't for my love of him. I did it for him to become a father. Not for me to become a mother. You earn the title parent. I have done absolutely nothing to earn that title."

In 2001, the trial judge issued an order terminating Rowe's parental rights.

But the following year, Rowe went back into court arguing that the court's termination order was invalid. The trial judge struck down his own order, admitting he had made a mistake by not appointing independent lawyers for the children.

In the decision, there's a revealing passage from the trial judge who commented on the marriage between Jackson and Rowe reports TMZ.

“It was an arranged deal from the beginning... This was not a mom and dad saying, 'Hey, let's have a family that we're going to raise.’�

In the appeal's court ruling, it states that Rowe took action to get the kids back “because of concerns arising from Michael's criminal prosecution and press reports Michael had associated with the nation of Islam, whose members Deborah believed do ‘not like Jews.’�

The ruling continues, “Because she is Jewish, Deborah feared the children might be mistreated if Michael continued his association with the Nation of Islam.�

The pop star, who has been living out of the country since his acquittal on molestation charges last June, could appeal the ruling. He is reportedly traveling with his children in Italy.