# Babies and changing eye color **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 11, 2004, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/babies-and-changing-eye-color/268541 "2004-10-11T00:33:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2004, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/babies-and-changing-eye-color/268541/1 "2004-10-11T00:33:26Z")
So the new baby is 3 months old next week. Huzzah! And her eyes are still blue. Lighter than they were originally but still blue with a darker blue rim. My eyes are brown. Lady Chance’s eyes are hazel. The 4 year old’s eyes are identical to mine. My mom has brown eyes. My dad has green. LC’s mom has hazel eyes. He dad had light blue eyes. My sister has blue eyes. LC’s brother has hazel eyes. Two questions then: 1. What’s the schedule for baby eyes changing and when do they settle down. 2. What are the odds this one will have blue eyes for good? ---
**Author:** ![CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crankyasanoldman/32/11670_2.png) [@CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrankyAsAnOldMan)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2004, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/babies-and-changing-eye-color/268541/2 "2004-10-11T02:14:41Z")
Oh goody, someone tearing in with an anecdote. Just what you were hoping for. My son’s eyes stayed blue but there was a noticeable change in color, from a true blue to a grey blue, from when he was 7 months old to 17 months old. Many people noticed (I can’t pinpoint when it happened, but the two professional photos we had taken at those two stages sort of bookmark the range). ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2004, 7:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/babies-and-changing-eye-color/268541/3 "2004-10-11T07:30:29Z")
I’m a little rusty on the genetics. Because blue/green is recessive, blue/green eyed people have 2 blue/green and nothing else. Brown/hazel can have a repressed blue/green and a brown/hazel gene, or 2 brown/hazel Anyway, if they’re getting lighter blue, she might stay blue. From the pattern of eye colors in your two families. you both have one of each. Your dad had 2 blue/green so you got one of those, and a brown/hazel from your mom. Your wife’s dad had 2 blue/green, she got one of those. Therefore the baby has a 50/50 chance of staying blue (or green.) It sometimes takes as long as 6 months for eye color to declare itself. But, as my own observation, blue seems to declare sooner than brown/hazel. Whatever color they end up, they’ll always be the most beautiful eyes you’ll ever see. 🙂 If they’re blue, 🆒 protect them! ---
**Author:** ![Galanthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Galanthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Galanthus)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2004, 9:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/babies-and-changing-eye-color/268541/4 "2004-10-11T09:15:08Z")
From what I remember the genes involved in eye colour are called “bey”, “gey” and “bcey”. Most caucasian babies start off with slate grey coloured eyes which settle down to thier final colour within 3-4 months, after that it gets a bit complicated. First gene to consider is the “bey” gene. This controls blue/brown and the brown colour is dominant. If you have brown eyes ( one or two copies of the brown “bey” gene ) this masks the effect of the other two genes involved and they cant be seen. If you have two copies of the blue “bey” then you will either have blue eyes, or if you have them, the “gey” (green eyes) and “bcey” (Brown centred eyes) can effect your fianl eye colour. This is all further complicated by the fact that some of these genes show “incomplete penetrance”. That is you might have them but not see thier effects in your final eyecolour or they may change it only partially. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2004, 10:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/babies-and-changing-eye-color/268541/5 "2004-10-11T10:33:11Z")
More anecdotal info… My wife has light brown eyes, and I have hazel eyes. Both of our sons have beautiful blue eyes. My dad had green eyes, my mom hazel. Her dad has light brown eyes, her mom has blue/gray eyes. We both have at least one grandparent with blue eyes. I reckon both my wife and I have a recessive gene for blue eyes and it’s come out twice so far (we’ll see about the third one, due in January). ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2004, 10:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/babies-and-changing-eye-color/268541/6 "2004-10-11T10:43:34Z")
Another data point. I have blue-grey eyes, and Airman’s are almost black. Aaron was born with slate-grey eyes, but his changed to a sort of hazelish-grey by the time he was about six months old. He’s got sort of chestnut-colored hair now, but we’re waiting to see if it turns a darker brown. Robin ---
**Author:** ![The\_27th\_Evil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ebca7d/32.png) [@The\_27th\_Evil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_27th_Evil)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2004, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/babies-and-changing-eye-color/268541/7 "2004-10-11T11:17:44Z")
More anecdotes… My father has bright blue eyes and my mother olive green. My eyes were blue-grey at birth and went to bright blue at about 3-4 months, and my brother was born with grey eyes that shifted olive at about 6 months. I second the genetic assessment. You won’t know for sure for another month or three, however. ---
**Author:** ![calm\_kiwi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc348/32.png) [@calm\_kiwi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/calm_kiwi)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2004, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/babies-and-changing-eye-color/268541/8 "2004-10-11T12:23:45Z")
Yet another anecdote. The child was born with bright blue eyes. His father had green eyes and all my family is either brown or hazel. I waited for his eyes to change colour. 13 years later I’m still waiting. I swear he doesn’t belong to the milkman! I got used to having a blue eye in the family 😃 ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2004, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/babies-and-changing-eye-color/268541/9 "2004-10-11T13:22:26Z")
> [@calm kiwi](#): > > Yet another anecdote. > > The child was born with bright blue eyes. His father had green eyes and all my family is either brown or hazel. I waited for his eyes to change colour. 13 years later I’m still waiting. I swear he doesn’t belong to the milkman! > > I got used to having a blue eye in the family 😃 That’s ok, His father with green eyes gave him is proper blue gene… it you… are you sure you’re his mom? Kidding of course. Just because the blue gene didn’t manifest before doesn’t mean it isn’t there. You’re the one with the hole card, so to speak. ---
**Author:** ![tygerbryght](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a9a28c/32.png) [@tygerbryght](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tygerbryght)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2004, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/babies-and-changing-eye-color/268541/10 "2004-10-11T14:40:28Z")
More anecdotes, but I caution you, they’re anomalous! :smack: Based on the stuff which follows, I hypothesize that my father (and a couple of his sibs - their data not presented; the majority had dark hair, some with brown eyes and some with hazel) inherited a freak partially dominant blue eye gene. His color was that “white blond” you mostly only see in Scandinavians, complete with no tanning - skin turned red from sun. Daddy’s phenotype overall has been amazingly dominant. One half-sister resembles me so much we could be taken for twins, except for age differences. My mother had brown eyes (\>7/8ths American Indian, but didja know that Cherokee are one of the nations which had some green/hazel eyed members?). Her mother’s were brown. Her father’s were green or hazel, but he had really bad cataracts, so they looked kinda sorta blue. My hair was the pale golden blond you see in some white families until I was five, when it started to darken. My eyes stayed blue until I was 8 or 9, at which time they turned green quite suddenly. Beginning in my teens, my eyes changed color depending on mood and time of month. I was also told (later on) that my eyes changed color during, um, episodes of strong emotion. 😛 Today they stay green nearly all the time, perhaps merely a reflection of my placid existence? 🙂 Although the texture of my skin is more like my mother’s, it’s quite fair. My hair (as an adult) stopped at a darkish medium ash brown (now graying). My son’s eyes were blue until he was about two, then they changed to green, and eventually to a rather faint hazel cast on the green, with no further changes. His father also had significant American Indian ancestry; his eyes, and those of all his family whom I knew, were brown. He resembles my father in \>90% of his characteristics. I can see some of my son’s own father in him (shape of face & skull, hairline), but his facial features are my father’s, as well as his body type, hairyness, uh-MAY-zing strength, and many other things, including personality (even though he was born about six months away from my father’s birthday - take that, astrology!). OTOH, David’s skin is darker than mine, and his hair is black. ---
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2004, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/babies-and-changing-eye-color/268541/11 "2004-10-11T19:39:30Z")
> [@picunurse](#): > > Whatever color they end up, they’ll always be the most beautiful eyes you’ll ever see. 🙂 Don’t know if I’ve ever read more profound words. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![GingerOfTheNorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cdc98d/32.png) [@GingerOfTheNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GingerOfTheNorth)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2004, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/babies-and-changing-eye-color/268541/12 "2004-10-11T20:04:24Z")
I would like a little bit of genetic help, if possible, regarding baby eye colour. My eyes are green, as are those of both parents. Mom’s parents’ eyes were blue as well, and dad’s mom was blue, his dad was brown. Dave has green eyes. He was adopted, and we have no idea at the moment what colour his bio-father’s eyes are, but I think (and of course I could be wrong wrong wrong) that bio-mom has brown eyes. What colour do you think this baby’s eyes will be? ---
**Author:** ![GingerOfTheNorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cdc98d/32.png) [@GingerOfTheNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GingerOfTheNorth)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2004, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/babies-and-changing-eye-color/268541/13 "2004-10-11T20:05:30Z")
> [@GingerOfTheNorth](#): > > I would like a little bit of genetic help, if possible, regarding baby eye colour. My eyes are green, as are those of both parents. Mom’s parents’ eyes were blue as well, and dad’s mom was blue, his dad was brown. I am a giant idiot. My eyes are BLUE. As are my parents, etc… all other info in there is correct. ---
**Author:** ![Mercury](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e95f7d/32.png) [@Mercury](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mercury)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2004, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/babies-and-changing-eye-color/268541/14 "2004-10-11T23:58:44Z")
What are “brown-centered” eyes? I can’t give you the “odds” that her eyes will stay blue for good. You could have gotten the blue bey gene from your dad (who had two copies) and your mom could also have a blue copy of the bey as well. LC likely has a blue bey gene in there somewhere: I learned that hazel is incomplete penetrance of a brown bey, and she should a blue bey somewhere from her father. I would say the odds are good but I can’t give you a number. That said, my father’s family has no-one in it with blue or green eyes. Every single person on that side of the family has dark brown eyes. My mother’s family is full of blue-eyed people, and no-one on that side of the family has green or brown eyes. Anyone would have predicted that I’d have one copy of the blue bey from my mom and one copy of the brown from my dad, giving me brown eyes. They were slate blue as a baby, but turned green. Genetics is funny that way. ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2004, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/babies-and-changing-eye-color/268541/15 "2004-10-12T00:09:20Z")
> [@GingerOfTheNorth](#): > > I would like a little bit of genetic help, if possible, regarding baby eye colour. My eyes are green, as are those of both parents. Mom’s parents’ eyes were blue as well, and dad’s mom was blue, his dad was brown. > > Dave has green eyes. He was adopted, and we have no idea at the moment what colour his bio-father’s eyes are, but I think (and of course I could be wrong wrong wrong) that bio-mom has brown eyes. > > What colour do you think this baby’s eyes will be? That was covered at the beginning of this thread. If your eyes are blue, you don’t have a brown eyed gene. Your husband’s green eyes, I believe, are recessive too, so he doesn’t have a brown eyed gene. That means child produced by the two of you won’t have brown eyes. ---
**Author:** ![GingerOfTheNorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cdc98d/32.png) [@GingerOfTheNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GingerOfTheNorth)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2004, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/babies-and-changing-eye-color/268541/16 "2004-10-12T01:40:27Z")
> [@picunurse](#): > > That was covered at the beginning of this thread. > If your eyes are blue, you don’t have a brown eyed gene. Your husband’s green eyes, I believe, are recessive too, so he doesn’t have a brown eyed gene. That means child produced by the two of you won’t have brown eyes. I remember enough of the genetics I learned in junior high school to know that I don’t carry a brown-eyed gene. I was just wondering if blue or green is the dominant colour. ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2004, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/babies-and-changing-eye-color/268541/17 "2004-10-12T02:13:47Z")
I think they are both recessive, but don’t take it as gospel. You may just have to wait and see. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Galanthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Galanthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Galanthus)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2004, 8:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/babies-and-changing-eye-color/268541/18 "2004-10-12T08:26:00Z")
> [@GingerOfTheNorth](#): > > I remember enough of the genetics I learned in junior high school to know that I don’t carry a brown-eyed gene. I was just wondering if blue or green is the dominant colour. Blue and green are controlled by different genes and both are recessive. To have green eyes you must have two blue copies of the brown/blue gene and two copies of the -/green gene. This is why green eyes are so rare. Brown-centred eyes are a ring of light brown around the pupil that is only on the inner edge of the iris. My eyes are grey for instance but I can see a ring of brown on the inside of the iris if I look closely. ---
**Author:** ![calm\_kiwi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc348/32.png) [@calm\_kiwi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/calm_kiwi)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2004, 10:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/babies-and-changing-eye-color/268541/19 "2004-10-12T10:34:18Z")
> [@picunurse](#): > > I think they are both recessive, but don’t take it as gospel. You may just have to wait and see. 🙂 It’s all very surprising even without the milkman. ---
**Author:** ![sunfish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/96bed5/32.png) [@sunfish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sunfish)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2004, 11:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/babies-and-changing-eye-color/268541/20 "2004-10-12T11:12:27Z")
Minor hijack here, now that we have the basic genetics sorted out - what controls the shade of eye color? Everyone in my family, on both sides, has brown eyes, but the shades of brown are noticeably different from person to person. For example, my mom’s eyes are very dark, like dark chocolate, whereas mine are lighter brown with a greenish-gold tinge under certain lighting conditions. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/babies-and-changing-eye-color/268541.md?page=2)