ngoshwe
JF-Expert Member
- Mar 31, 2009
- 4,131
- 931
THE stunned black dad of a newborn, WHITE, baby girl declared yesterday - "I'm sure she's my kid ... I just don't know why she's BLONDE."
British Nmachi Ihegboro has amazed genetics experts who say the little girl is NOT an albino.
Dad Ben, 44, a customer services adviser, admitted: "We both just sat there after the birth staring at her."
Mum Angela, 35, of Woolwich, South London, beamed as she said: "She's beautiful - a miracle baby."
Ben told yesterday how he was so shocked when Nmachi was born, he even joked: "Is she MINE?"
Little 'miracle' ... Nmachi Ihegboro
PETER SIMPSON & NEIL HALL
He added: "Actually, the first thing I did was look at her and say, 'What the flip?'"
But as the baby's older brother and sister - both black - crowded round the "little miracle" at their home in South London, Ben declared: "Of course she's mine."
Blue-eyed blonde Nmachi, whose name means "Beauty of God" in the Nigerian couple's homeland, has baffled genetics experts because neither Ben nor wife Angela have ANY mixed-race family history.
Pale genes skipping generations before cropping up again could have explained the baby's appearance.
Ben also stressed: "My wife is true to me. Even if she hadn't been, the baby still wouldn't look like that.
"We both just sat there after the birth staring at her for ages - not saying anything."
Doctors at Queen Mary's Hospital in Sidcup - where Angela, from nearby Woolwich, gave birth - have told the parents Nmachi is definitely no albino.
Ben, who came to Britain with his wife five years ago and works for South Eastern Trains, said: "She doesn't look like an albino child anyway - not like the ones I've seen back in Nigeria or in books. She just looks like a healthy white baby."
He went on: "My mum is a black Nigerian although she has a bit fairer skin than mine.
"But we don't know of any white ancestry. We wondered if it was a genetic twist.
"But even then, what is with the long curly blonde hair?"
Professor Bryan Sykes, head of Human Genetics at Oxford University and Britain's leading expert, yesterday called the birth "extraordinary".
He said: "In mixed race humans, the lighter variant of skin tone may come out in a child - and this can sometimes be startlingly different to the skin of the parents.
"This might be the case where there is a lot of genetic mixing, as in Afro-Caribbean populations. But in Nigeria there is little mixing."
Prof Sykes said BOTH parents would have needed "some form of white ancestry" for a pale version of their genes to be passed on.
But he added: "The hair is extremely unusual. Even many blonde children don't have blonde hair like this at birth."
Blonde bombshell ... parents show newborn
Nmachi to sister Dumebi and bruv Chisom yesterday
PETER SIMPSON & NEIL HALL
The expert said some unknown mutation was the most likely explanation.
He admitted: "The rules of genetics are complex and we still don't understand what happens in many cases."
The amazing birth comes five years after Kylie Hodgson became mum to twin daughters - one white and the other black - in Nottingham.
Kylie, now 23, and her partner Remi Horder, now 21, are both mixed race.
Even so the odds were estimated at a million to one.
The Sun told in 2002 how a white couple had Asian twins after a sperm mix-up by a fertility clinic.
Yesterday three-day-old Nmachi's churchgoing mum Angela admitted that she was "speechless" at first seeing her baby girl, who was delivered in a caesarean op.
She said: "I thought, 'What is this little doll?'
"She's beautiful and I love her. Her colour doesn't matter. She's a miracle baby.
"But still, what on earth happened here?"
Her husband told how their son Chisom, four, was even more confused than them by his new sister.
Ben said: "Our other daughter Dumebi is only two so she's too young to understand.
"But our boy keeps coming to look at his sister and then sits down looking puzzled.
"We're a black family. Suddenly he has a white sister."
Ben continued: "Of course, we are baffled too and want to know what's happened. But we understand life is very strange.
"All that matters is that she's healthy and that we love her.She's a proud British Nigerian."
Queen Mary's Hospital said: "Congratulations to Angela and her family on the birth of their daughter."
Read more: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepag...s-give-birth-to-white-baby.html#ixzz0uEdIRNOy
Genetics professors expressed amazement at the birth last night.
'The birth is extraordinary,' said Professor Bryan Sykes, head of human genetics at Oxford University.
'In mixed race humans, the lighter variant of skin tone may come out in a child and this can sometimes be startlingly different to the skin of the parents.'
Professor Sykes said both parents would have needed 'some form of white ancestry.'
He added: 'The hair is extremely unusual. Even many blonde children don't have blonde hair like this at birth.
'The rules of genetics are complex and we still don't understand what happens in many cases.
'This might be a case where there is a lot of genetic mixing, as in Afro-Caribbean populations.
'But in Nigeria there is little mixing.'
The British couple are both of Igbo Nigerian origin and have dark skin.
Father Ben Ihegboro, 44, a customer services adviser, admitted that when he saw the baby he exclaimed 'What the flip?' before joking: 'Is she mine?'
Doctors at Queen Mary hospital in Sidcup insist that Nmachi - whose name means 'beauty of God' in the couple's native Igbo language - is not an albino.
Her stunned parents, who already have two black children, just 'sat and stared' at their white baby when she arrived, they told the Sun last night.
'We both just sat there after the birth staring at her,' said Mr Ihegboro.
Mum Angela said: 'She is beautiful, a miracle baby.'
Despite jokingly asking whether he was the father, Mr Igegboro said: 'Of course she is mine.
'My wife is true to me. Even if she hadn't been, the baby wouldn't have looked like that!'
Pale skin genes can skip generations but neither Ben nor Angela Ihegboro - who only moved to Britain five years ago - know of any white heritage in either of their families.
'She doesn't look like an albino child anyway,' Mr Ihegboro said.
'Not like the ones I have seen back in Nigeria or in books. She just looks like a healthy white baby.
'My mum is a black Nigerian although she has a bit fairer skin than mine. But we don't know of any white ancestry.
Enlarge
The genetic twist has echoes of the British mixed race couple (pictured) who in 2006 gave birth to twin girls, one of whom was white and the other black
'We wondered if it was a genetic twist. But even then, what is with the long curly blonde hair.'
The couple also have an older daughter, Dumebi, two, and a son, Chisom, four.
Mr Ihegboro said the couple's son was even more confused than them.
He added: 'Our boy keeps coming to look at his sister and sits down looking puzzled.
'We are a black family. Suddenly he has a white sister.
'But all that matters is that she is healthy and that we love her.'
Skin colour is believed to be determined by up to seven different genes working together.
If a woman is of mixed race, her eggs will usually contain a mixture of genes coding for both black and white skin. Similarly, a man of mixed race will have a variety of different genes in his sperm.
When these eggs and sperm come together, they will create a baby of mixed race.
But, very occasionally, the egg or sperm might contain genes coding for one skin colour. If both the egg and sperm contain all white genes, the baby will be white. And if both contain just the versions necessary for black skin, the baby will be black.
In 2006 a British mixed race couple gave birth to twin girls, one of whom was white and the other black.
Both Kylie and her partner Remi Horder, 17, are of mixed race. Their mothers are both white and their fathers are black.
But the chances of the twin girls having completely different skin colours was one in a million.
According to the Multiple Births Foundation, baby Kian must have inherited the black genes from both sides of the family, whilst Remee inherited the white ones.
Read more: Black British couple give birth to white blue-eyed blonde baby girl | Mail Online
....................................
Ikiwa imetokea katika familia yako, si kwenu wala kwao (Kiumeni wala Kikeni) kuna historia ya mtu mweupeee, wafanyaje???
British Nmachi Ihegboro has amazed genetics experts who say the little girl is NOT an albino.
Dad Ben, 44, a customer services adviser, admitted: "We both just sat there after the birth staring at her."
Mum Angela, 35, of Woolwich, South London, beamed as she said: "She's beautiful - a miracle baby."
Ben told yesterday how he was so shocked when Nmachi was born, he even joked: "Is she MINE?"
Little 'miracle' ... Nmachi Ihegboro
PETER SIMPSON & NEIL HALL
He added: "Actually, the first thing I did was look at her and say, 'What the flip?'"
But as the baby's older brother and sister - both black - crowded round the "little miracle" at their home in South London, Ben declared: "Of course she's mine."
Blue-eyed blonde Nmachi, whose name means "Beauty of God" in the Nigerian couple's homeland, has baffled genetics experts because neither Ben nor wife Angela have ANY mixed-race family history.
Pale genes skipping generations before cropping up again could have explained the baby's appearance.
Ben also stressed: "My wife is true to me. Even if she hadn't been, the baby still wouldn't look like that.
"We both just sat there after the birth staring at her for ages - not saying anything."
Doctors at Queen Mary's Hospital in Sidcup - where Angela, from nearby Woolwich, gave birth - have told the parents Nmachi is definitely no albino.
Ben, who came to Britain with his wife five years ago and works for South Eastern Trains, said: "She doesn't look like an albino child anyway - not like the ones I've seen back in Nigeria or in books. She just looks like a healthy white baby."
He went on: "My mum is a black Nigerian although she has a bit fairer skin than mine.
"But we don't know of any white ancestry. We wondered if it was a genetic twist.
"But even then, what is with the long curly blonde hair?"
Professor Bryan Sykes, head of Human Genetics at Oxford University and Britain's leading expert, yesterday called the birth "extraordinary".
He said: "In mixed race humans, the lighter variant of skin tone may come out in a child - and this can sometimes be startlingly different to the skin of the parents.
"This might be the case where there is a lot of genetic mixing, as in Afro-Caribbean populations. But in Nigeria there is little mixing."
Prof Sykes said BOTH parents would have needed "some form of white ancestry" for a pale version of their genes to be passed on.
But he added: "The hair is extremely unusual. Even many blonde children don't have blonde hair like this at birth."
Blonde bombshell ... parents show newborn
Nmachi to sister Dumebi and bruv Chisom yesterday
PETER SIMPSON & NEIL HALL
The expert said some unknown mutation was the most likely explanation.
He admitted: "The rules of genetics are complex and we still don't understand what happens in many cases."
The amazing birth comes five years after Kylie Hodgson became mum to twin daughters - one white and the other black - in Nottingham.
Kylie, now 23, and her partner Remi Horder, now 21, are both mixed race.
Even so the odds were estimated at a million to one.
The Sun told in 2002 how a white couple had Asian twins after a sperm mix-up by a fertility clinic.
Yesterday three-day-old Nmachi's churchgoing mum Angela admitted that she was "speechless" at first seeing her baby girl, who was delivered in a caesarean op.
She said: "I thought, 'What is this little doll?'
"She's beautiful and I love her. Her colour doesn't matter. She's a miracle baby.
"But still, what on earth happened here?"
Her husband told how their son Chisom, four, was even more confused than them by his new sister.
Ben said: "Our other daughter Dumebi is only two so she's too young to understand.
"But our boy keeps coming to look at his sister and then sits down looking puzzled.
"We're a black family. Suddenly he has a white sister."
Ben continued: "Of course, we are baffled too and want to know what's happened. But we understand life is very strange.
"All that matters is that she's healthy and that we love her.She's a proud British Nigerian."
Queen Mary's Hospital said: "Congratulations to Angela and her family on the birth of their daughter."
Read more: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepag...s-give-birth-to-white-baby.html#ixzz0uEdIRNOy
Genetics professors expressed amazement at the birth last night.
'The birth is extraordinary,' said Professor Bryan Sykes, head of human genetics at Oxford University.
'In mixed race humans, the lighter variant of skin tone may come out in a child and this can sometimes be startlingly different to the skin of the parents.'
Professor Sykes said both parents would have needed 'some form of white ancestry.'
He added: 'The hair is extremely unusual. Even many blonde children don't have blonde hair like this at birth.
'The rules of genetics are complex and we still don't understand what happens in many cases.
'This might be a case where there is a lot of genetic mixing, as in Afro-Caribbean populations.
'But in Nigeria there is little mixing.'
The British couple are both of Igbo Nigerian origin and have dark skin.
Father Ben Ihegboro, 44, a customer services adviser, admitted that when he saw the baby he exclaimed 'What the flip?' before joking: 'Is she mine?'
Doctors at Queen Mary hospital in Sidcup insist that Nmachi - whose name means 'beauty of God' in the couple's native Igbo language - is not an albino.
Her stunned parents, who already have two black children, just 'sat and stared' at their white baby when she arrived, they told the Sun last night.
'We both just sat there after the birth staring at her,' said Mr Ihegboro.
Mum Angela said: 'She is beautiful, a miracle baby.'
Despite jokingly asking whether he was the father, Mr Igegboro said: 'Of course she is mine.
'My wife is true to me. Even if she hadn't been, the baby wouldn't have looked like that!'
Pale skin genes can skip generations but neither Ben nor Angela Ihegboro - who only moved to Britain five years ago - know of any white heritage in either of their families.
'She doesn't look like an albino child anyway,' Mr Ihegboro said.
'Not like the ones I have seen back in Nigeria or in books. She just looks like a healthy white baby.
'My mum is a black Nigerian although she has a bit fairer skin than mine. But we don't know of any white ancestry.
Enlarge
The genetic twist has echoes of the British mixed race couple (pictured) who in 2006 gave birth to twin girls, one of whom was white and the other black'We wondered if it was a genetic twist. But even then, what is with the long curly blonde hair.'
The couple also have an older daughter, Dumebi, two, and a son, Chisom, four.
Mr Ihegboro said the couple's son was even more confused than them.
He added: 'Our boy keeps coming to look at his sister and sits down looking puzzled.
'We are a black family. Suddenly he has a white sister.
'But all that matters is that she is healthy and that we love her.'
Skin colour is believed to be determined by up to seven different genes working together.
If a woman is of mixed race, her eggs will usually contain a mixture of genes coding for both black and white skin. Similarly, a man of mixed race will have a variety of different genes in his sperm.
When these eggs and sperm come together, they will create a baby of mixed race.
But, very occasionally, the egg or sperm might contain genes coding for one skin colour. If both the egg and sperm contain all white genes, the baby will be white. And if both contain just the versions necessary for black skin, the baby will be black.
In 2006 a British mixed race couple gave birth to twin girls, one of whom was white and the other black.
Both Kylie and her partner Remi Horder, 17, are of mixed race. Their mothers are both white and their fathers are black.
But the chances of the twin girls having completely different skin colours was one in a million.
According to the Multiple Births Foundation, baby Kian must have inherited the black genes from both sides of the family, whilst Remee inherited the white ones.
Read more: Black British couple give birth to white blue-eyed blonde baby girl | Mail Online
....................................
Ikiwa imetokea katika familia yako, si kwenu wala kwao (Kiumeni wala Kikeni) kuna historia ya mtu mweupeee, wafanyaje???
