A black couple was surprised when their baby was born white, with blue eyes and blonde hair. Britain’s Nmachi Ihegboro shocked genetics experts after testing revealed that the baby is not an albino.
The father of the baby, Ben, 44, said that the two of them just sat there for a moment after the baby was born. The mother of the child, Angela, smiled and said:
“She’s beautiful – a miracle baby.”
Ben said that he was surprise when the baby was born, and even wondered if the baby was in fact his. As the family crowded around the baby, it was easy to see the similarities in the facial features. They named the baby Nmachi, which means “Beauty of God” in their homeland of Nigeria.
Neither Ben nor Angela have any mix-raced family history that they know of, but light genes from generations before could potentially explain the appearance of the child.
“My wife is true to me. Even if she hadn’t been, the baby still wouldn’t look like that,” Ben said.
The couple came to Britain from Nigeria five years ago, and said that the baby does not appear to be albino, and looks more like a healthy white baby. Ben said that his mother had fairer skin than him, but also said that he had no knowledge of any light-skinned members of his ancestry that could have caused this to happen.
Professor Bryan Sykes, the head of human genetics at Oxford University described the birth as “extraordinary.” He went on to say that it wasn’t unusual for lighter skin tones to come out in a child, but also said that the contrast between the parents and the child was highly unusual.