NEW YORK (AFP) - Pop superstar Janet Jackson is expecting her first child at age 49, reports said on Wednesday (May 4).

The younger sister of Michael Jackson stunned fans last month by halting a global tour and saying that she and her husband Wissam Al Mana were "planning our family".

Jackson, who turns 50 on May 16, did not offer further details at the time. But celebrity news sites ET and E! News both said that she was pregnant.

E! News, quoting an unnamed source, said that she was in her second trimester and had been seeing a fertility specialist for some time.

Natural pregnancies are less common for women when they enter their late 40s, but in vitro fertilisations can extend the age range.

A representative for Jackson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

But in perhaps a wink of confirmation, Jackson earlier on Wednesday posted on social media a snippet of her dancing with the hashtag #DammnBaby.

Jackson is often discreet in her personal life and did not immediately publicise her 2012 marriage to Al Mana, a Qatari businessman.

Michael Jackson had three children after frequently reported efforts to try to start a family.

He had two children with Debbie Rowe, who worked at his dermatologist's office and married him, and a third through an undisclosed surrogate.