Genetic Mystery - White Baby Born To Black Parents
Yesterday, a reader, Cheryl, passed along this story. I did not have a chance to read it though until last night. It is the most amazing thing ever. Last week black parents in England gave birth to a white girl. Genetics departments in the UK are going crazy because the couple fit none of the factors on how something like this could have happened. Usually doctors would determine the baby is albino, but the baby has no albino characteristics. They would then look to the ancestors of the parents to see if there were mixed babies in the past. There are no mixed babies in the past. So, now everyone is dumbfounded how this happened.
Fascinating. Has anyone else ever heard of this?
51 comments:
Well, we all originated from Africa. Is this child an albino?
It's called the postman effect.
I seen this on Maury before, the dad was insisting he wasn't the father because the child was white with curly blond hair and his wife was crying and heartbroken He wouln't believe her and it came back he was the father.
It is surprising. I'm sure the DNA matches both parents, but the only resemblence I see is the nose matches the brother.
This is surprising.
Cool mystery. Cute kids.
OMG, I want to eat those kids up! They are so cute! That little boy is ADORABLE!!!
I have seen this happen before.
In those cases, one or both of the black parents had an ancestor who was white, and even though they were dark skinned themselves, one child was born white skinned with white features.
I personally know one family where the parents are dark skinned mulattos, and have several children who look like them, but then have one little boy with white skin and the shiniest golden hair and green eyes.
In this particular case, it has not been ruled out the chance that a gene mutation might have caused the baby being born this way.
My reason for doubting this hypothesis is that the child not only has fair skin and hair, but the hair is also wavy, as opposed to tight african frizzy.
I doesn't really matter if they can't find anyone in their family history who is white.
Genes are passed on throughout very many generations, and especially considering Nigeria's colonial past, it is very likely proper records of birth and parentage were not kept.
This story totally fasinates me! I love when mysteries like this happen.
Like the woman who slept with 2 men seperatly whilst she was ovulating and got pregnant WITH TWINS and based on DNA each man fathered the twin, so both boys were twins with 2 different dads!
When stuff like this happens I think its almost a humbling thing for the human race, its like , nope, I guess we dont have it all figured out.
I think in the end it reminds us that we are animals and subject to odd things happening that all we can do is scratch our heads at and howl about.
lol
i betcha someone had some explaining to do when she gave birth though!!
oh and uh, I dont think your supposed to say the word 'mulattos' anymore.
the fact is there IS NO SUCH THING AS DIFFERENT RACES, only different nationalities, we are one whole Human Race, so this baby is simply another color on but still the same race as the parents.
no idea how that works - but that baby has a lot of hair! wow.
Jasmine, "mulatto" is not a derogatory term. It means someone of mixed white and black origin, and it has no pejorative connotation.
that is just amazing. when i look at her, she really LOOKS African American, but just with way lighter skin! how cool is that?!?
i also wonder how many generations they would have to go back to find the 'whitey in the woodpile', or maybe it was just a mutation...crazy stuff!
Mrs. M5, I understand that sometimes in our rush to be PC we forget that the PC term is actually NOT correct. In this case, the couple is Nigerian and living in the UK. Neither they, nor their children are 'African-American.'
Hey, good point @ Christina, I never thought about that: I always say "black" if I HAVE to refer to a person of African heritage, although it doesn't come up that often. What do people in other countries say if they don't like the term "black?" Of African ancestry seems long-winded. African-Canadian? African-Irish? African-English?
That is so cool! The first thing that popped into my head, however, was that tasteless rap song "That Baby Don't Look Like Me". She does have a LOT of hair for a newborn! Sort of looks like a doll.
oh, indeed! you are correct Christina! my bad!
@chihuahuense - in the UK, they call someone "Black". I never understood why that is politically incorrect. I'm described as white, and it doesn't phase me. White/Black is a description of skin color, not anything pejorative. And there are plenty of blacks in this country who aren't of African descent, so African American is incorrect.
Referring to your ancestor's heritage as "african american" or "jewish american" or "irish american" is a very american quality. None of my international friends refer to themselves as anything but "French" or "Irish" or "Russian" - regardless of their ancestry or color. I've always been amused that in american society, we define who we are by our ancestors. Making other countries the ones who are more color blind.
That little boy is just so gosh darned cute and so proud of his little sister! What a beautiful family. As an adoptive mother of an African American daughter, I just love pictures that show that love has no color.
Wow, look how much hair that baby has! Looks like a wig. I know lots of Moms of white babies who are happy their kid has enough hair to even trim for the first time by the time the kid is three years old!
I hope she is loved and accepted and not made fun of her entire life.
And given how pink she is I hope the parents remember to apply lots of sunscreen!
And even if the mom fooled around with a white man, that baby is still 100% white-looking, like some of y'all pointed out.
It might be a mystery forever, but the family looks really happy, the older kids are adorable, the dad is there, and it's all good!
I am much more fascinated with the head of hair on that baby!
Enty, I was going to send this story to you yesterday but was not sure if you would be interested. Glad you were lol.
I love the look on the face of the older sister. She doesn't look happy to not be the only little girl anymore.
I went to college with a young lady who had all of the features of a black woman...however, she had white skin, light colored hair & eyes. I just assumed that she was albino (I think it was the eyes that gave it away).
Definiely this is some form of albinism/abnormal deposition of melanin or pigmentation. No big deal as long as the child gets the proper medical care for any visual or other health side effects.
I actually know of a man who was blonde with light skin and blue eyes. both of his parents were black (I think African American is a useless term). He married a white woman who was blonde with light skin and blue eyes and had one child who was also blonde with light skin and blue eyes. The clincher is that they were told that child or her children could at some point have a baby that's black.
There was a case in England as well a few years ago where an interracial couple had twins...one twin was white and the other twin was black. Pretty cool what genetics can do.
For all of you that insist this baby is Albino...read what Enty wrote, he specifically wrote: "Usually doctors would determine the baby is albino, but the baby has no albino characteristics."
Its interesting at best and I'm sure we'll not ever know what the real reason is the baby presents as "white".
@Amy- each parent was biracial if it's the same case. The twins were girls and they were considering moving to a more diverse area.
I don't mind mulatto. I am racially mixed on all sides according to old census records with mulattos marrying mulattos. It used to be applied to someone who is at least 50% White regardless of their appearance.
Genetic tests determine if someone is albino. From the article I read, albinism has been ruled out. My guess is that there were unknown white ancestors. I have also known Black families who deliberately hide knowledge of White ancestors.
...and I'm not the Cheryl who passed along the article.
Awesome story! Very cute family!
that whole woman ovulating and having sex with two different men thing resulting in twins happened to my friends cousin.
she has one black and one white twin, and she is of mixed race as well.
Well, there's no such thing as the white race. Europeans are mixtures of African and Asian. We are all at least part African (depending upon whether you buy the out of Africa or out of Asian or two sources theory).
Could be a dormant white gene from several long forgotten generations ago or a genetic mutation. Frankly, to my untrained eye, the baby looks albino, and I know they won't really be able to tell if she's albino till she gets older.
Life is strange and wonderful. I too tend to think that somewhere in the deep history of both there had to have been a white ancestor. But. Maybe there's something about race and DNA generally that scientists haven't got all figured out yet. I mean white people did come into existence somehow.
the original article only got quotes from geneticists who had not done tests on the child or even met the family. the husband states that he only took his wifes word that she didnt cheat and believes her so they didnt do a paternity test. this is another example of bad journalism....
I think it's pretty cool, really. I mean hey, they made three cute, healthy kids and they're part of a little genetic mystery.
Maybe it's the second coming of the baby Jesus :)
@melody:
she doesn't look albino at all. her hair has color, you can see her eyebrows, her lips are darker than the rest of her face, etc. she DOES have pigmentation, in other words. her eyes would be the sure test, and i'm sure they've seen them.
i have heard of this before, but i don't remember when.
i also wanted to comment on the PC thing. i think the US is the only country that freaks out over it. this little girl shouldn't have problems in the UK, because they don't really have a problem with skin color or political correctness. unless you're east indian, that is.
Even though she looks white, the baby could get darker features as she gets older. I'm black and almost got switched at birth with a white baby because I was so light. And yes, America needs to get over it's "PC-ness" of African American because many blacks don't identify as that, especially West Indians.
you know, to say we should get over PC-ness is kind of scary. i do think it goes a bit to far, but alot of us are terrified to say the wrong thing and hurt someones feelings...would it be ok to call a black person just 'black'? i'm curious, because i don't want to call someone African American (even here in the states!) for fear of the backlash, not unlike the faux pas i committed earlier.
@ Shooey
Mulatto is no longer an acceptable term to describe a mixed race person. It is considered to be a offensive, if not racist, word.
Mixed race is the proper terminology.
an - an offensive... gawd I wish Blogger would allow edits.
@Ms. - "It is considered to be a offensive, if not racist, word."
By whom?
Again, I reiterate: "mulatto" denotes a person of mixed Caucasian and African origin. It has no negative connotation.
If you, or anybody else, arbitrarily decide that you are offended by the term, than that is your own personal perception of offence, where no offence is meant.
I love the baby.
:)
bionicbunny, on closer inspection, you're right.
And, of course, the US is the only nation with any social problems. And most of them in Hollywood. lol
Mulatto is considered offensive because it is believed to have derived from mule, the hybrid offspring of a horse and a donkey.
"Mulatto" derives from the arabic word "muwallad" [from "wálada" = to give birth; "wallad" = offspring; scion; son].
It originated over a thousand years ago (possibly since 711), and referred to someone born of an Arab and a non-Arab (European) in southern Iberia.
The 'latinized' version is "muladi".
When the "Reconquista" (conquering the lands back from the Moors by the Spanish and Portuguese) was done, and the remaining Moorish population was assimilated by marriage, the term became obsolete.
Centuries later, when excursions into Africa began, the word re-emerged as "mullato", this time referring specifically to someone born of one African parent, and one European parent.
The conclusion that the word derives from the latin "mula" (mula, ae), meaning the offspring of a horse and a donkey, is certainly an easy one to arrive at, considering the orthography of the word and the reference to interbreeding.
It is unfortunate that such a fallacy has been spread as fact in even supposedly authoritative sources - shockingly, even in some dictionaries that ought to know and do better - which then gets repeated as fact.
In any case, even if the word derived from "mula", why would it necessarily be derogative? It's not necessarily a comparison between animals and humans, it refers to the hybrid quality of the offspring.
There are thousands of words in use today in modern western languages, of which English is but one, that use words that have originated centuries and milennia ago, from the greek, latin, arabic, hebrew, etc, whose origin AND original meaning we would be very surprised to learn.
If we were to eradicate the words whose etymology we weren't too keen on and found un-PC, we would be left unable to communicate verbally.
It is truly a testament to how sensitive and sore a subject race is, that every word is dissected for derogative meanings, real or imagined.
The next time I visit the United States, I will know to steer clear from engaging in any conversation whatsoever that may require any reference to race or ethnicity.
As someone who firmly believes in equality for all human beings, I would be extremely wary of inadvertently coming across as "racially insensitive" or even outright racist, because I had innocently used a word of innocuous denotation, upon which all sorts of pejorative connotations had been projected upon, unbeknownst to me.
I am a person of mixed heritage and I am not offended by the word "mulatto"...my sisters and I totally use it. *shrug*
Anyway. All I know about this story is based on the photo. I would like to kidnap their delightfully adorable son. That is all.
:)
It's a lack of pigmentation that's all. I don't know why everybody gets all crazy about this stuff. It's the same reason I don't have a resemblance to anybody in my family.
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