# "Black parents give birth to white baby" **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 25, 2015, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-parents-give-birth-to-white-baby/710875 "2015-01-25T18:09:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Pai325](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Pai325](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pai325)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2015, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-parents-give-birth-to-white-baby/710875/21 "2015-01-26T04:09:22Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > More recent picture [here](http://www.teenidols4you.com/blink/Actors/marykateolsen/TI4U_u1243661052.jpg). Okay, you made me laugh. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2015, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-parents-give-birth-to-white-baby/710875/22 "2015-01-26T04:24:01Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > More recent picture [here](http://www.teenidols4you.com/blink/Actors/marykateolsen/TI4U_u1243661052.jpg). > [@Pai325](#): > > Okay, you made me laugh. Ok, since I’ve been whooshed (which is apparent from the label on the photo) who is it? ---
**Author:** ![Indistinguishable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/90ced4/32.png) [@Indistinguishable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indistinguishable)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2015, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-parents-give-birth-to-white-baby/710875/23 "2015-01-26T04:34:34Z")
Michelle from Full House. The one played by the Olsen twins. ---
**Author:** ![April\_R](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@April\_R](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/April_R)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2015, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-parents-give-birth-to-white-baby/710875/24 "2015-01-26T04:42:04Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Ok, since I’ve been whooshed (which is apparent from the label on the photo) who is it? It’s one of the Olsen twins from Full House ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2015, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-parents-give-birth-to-white-baby/710875/25 "2015-01-26T04:43:02Z")
> [@Indistinguishable](#): > > Michelle from Full House. The one played by the Olsen twins. Thanks. Shows how ignorant I am of sitcoms. 😃 I don’t think I’ve ever seen an episode. ---
**Author:** ![Isilder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@Isilder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isilder)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2015, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-parents-give-birth-to-white-baby/710875/26 "2015-01-26T12:31:47Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > they added that the child may have some kind of mutated version of the genetic condition — and that her skin could darken over time.[/INDENT] I think thats garbled … a confusing edit of what the doctor said. I think the doctor meant “recombination” the genes can be lost. Suppose we are talking about some part of the 12th Chromosome… So the same gene is meant to be there on chromosome A and B. But… during recombination, the gene from B can be duplicated and replace the one at A. Its more complicated than that… there is often many, eg 5 copies of the gene. So what can happen is that a recessive gene, being one out of 5, can get transferred around in recombination and become 3 4 or 5 out of 5… Anyway this might be a replication of the first white child… 🙂 Or the child may turn dark during puberty… many people have child colour and adult colour… especially in the hair… he might be white skinned with african hair. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2015, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-parents-give-birth-to-white-baby/710875/27 "2015-01-26T13:42:22Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > I don’t think I’ve ever seen an episode. Good call. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2015, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-parents-give-birth-to-white-baby/710875/28 "2015-01-26T14:16:51Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Thanks. Shows how ignorant I am of sitcoms. 😃 I don’t think I’ve ever seen an episode. Don’t worry. I haven’t either. _Seinfeld_ is about it for me since the 60s. Maybe some _Friends_, but nothing else. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2015, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-parents-give-birth-to-white-baby/710875/29 "2015-01-26T14:19:30Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Her skin and hair appear somewhat darker, but not much. Her facial features appear to me to be consistent with African ancestry (although not markedly so). The mother and father have different facial features. Did you notice that? The father has more what we associate with European facial features, although that’s probably just ignorance on our\* part since plenty of Africans (especially East Africans) have what are usually though of as European facial features. Yes, I know I’m writing this about your comments to a whoosh, but it still reflects on the whole issue of judging someone by facial features. \*“our” being those of us who are European in background. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2015, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-parents-give-birth-to-white-baby/710875/30 "2015-01-26T15:21:37Z")
> [@Pai325](#): > > That’s almost five years old. I wonder what the child looks like now. > [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > More recent picture [here](http://www.teenidols4you.com/blink/Actors/marykateolsen/TI4U_u1243661052.jpg). Funny, but seriously I tried to Google “nmachi ihegboro” and found tons of misattributed photos that are NOT her. A really bad noise-to-signal ratio on this topic. I haven’t even established if this is an internet hoax or not. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2015, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-parents-give-birth-to-white-baby/710875/31 "2015-01-26T15:44:55Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > The mother and father have different facial features. Did you notice that? The father has more what we associate with European facial features, although that’s probably just ignorance on our\* part since plenty of Africans (especially East Africans) have what are usually though of as European facial features. Yes, I did notice that. However, I think that even the father would be recognizably African even if his skin were white. It’s not really “ignorance” on our part. Facial features do differ on average between West and Central Africa and say northern Europe. However, the area in between is occupied by populations with varying degrees of intermediate characteristics, including skin color and facial features. This just illustrates the impossibility of drawing clear dividing lines between the traditional “races,” especially since the characters vary independently. (E.g. populations in South India were traditionally classified as Caucasian on the basis of facial features, even though skin tone is as dark as many Africans.) > [@John\_Mace](#): > > Don’t worry. I haven’t either. _Seinfeld_ is about it for me since the 60s. Then you may have seen [“The Wizard,”](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wizard_%28Seinfeld%29) in which [Elaine tries to figure out whether or not her new boyfriend is black.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-M5G2nWP3xY) ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2015, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-parents-give-birth-to-white-baby/710875/32 "2015-01-26T15:47:42Z")
> [@](#): > > Quoth **Skald the Rhymer** : > > My oldest brother is sufficiently light-skinned that he could easily pass for white; in fact, given his reluctance to ever come home for holidays and to have any of his relatives meet any of his friends in the city where he lives, I would not be surprised if he actually IS passing. But is the rest of your family as dark-skinned, and of as pure African heritage, as the parents in this case? Most African-Americans have a significant admixture of European ancestry, which usually manifests as African-Americans being a couple of shades lighter than pure Africans, but can occasionally, when the genetic dice throw a Yahtzee, result in a baby nearly as light as a pure European (or as dark as a pure African). (in case it needs to be said, I’m not trying to attach any value judgement to the word “pure”, here. I know that that word has an unfortunate history in race relations, but I’m not sure of a more appropriate word to use) ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2015, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-parents-give-birth-to-white-baby/710875/33 "2015-01-26T15:59:10Z")
My wife worked in an NHS Special Care Baby Unit for 30 years. She tells me that babies born to black people are usually many shades lighter than their parents. When a black actress in a show last night, ‘gave birth’ to an equally black baby, she commented that it was too black. Their skin will normally darken quite quickly. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2015, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-parents-give-birth-to-white-baby/710875/34 "2015-01-26T16:15:05Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > Funny, but seriously I tried to Google “nmachi ihegboro” and found tons of misattributed photos that are NOT her. A really bad noise-to-signal ratio on this topic. I haven’t even established if this is an internet hoax or not. Yes, googling her name can lead down some really nasty stormfront-style rabbit holes. Of course, googling for pictures of the Olsen twins has its pitfalls too. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2015, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-parents-give-birth-to-white-baby/710875/35 "2015-01-26T16:17:56Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > But is the rest of your family as dark-skinned, and of as pure African heritage, as the parents in this case? Depends on how you define my family. My baby sister was as light-skinned as the brother in question when she was born, but by about ten was as dark as I am. One of my sisters is very dark skinned, as is my other brother; the rest of us are medium dark. And two of my mother’s sisters are–well, were–quite fair. (ETA: None as fair as the brother in question, though. And it was a complete unsurprise to me when I discovered at, oh, 25 or so, that my mother’s deadbeat dad, whom she never met till she was about my current age, was white.) > [@](#): > > (in case it needs to be said, I’m not trying to attach any value judgement to the word “pure”, here. I know that that word has an unfortunate history in race relations, but I’m not sure of a more appropriate word to use) Meh. If I were offended, I’d have already threatened to murder you in some absurd comic-booky way, you know that. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2015, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-parents-give-birth-to-white-baby/710875/36 "2015-01-26T16:27:38Z")
I submitted this topic to the Snopes site- if there’s anything new on it, they can find it. ---
**Author:** ![Pai325](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Pai325](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pai325)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2015, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-parents-give-birth-to-white-baby/710875/37 "2015-01-26T16:45:35Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Thanks. Shows how ignorant I am of sitcoms. 😃 I don’t think I’ve ever seen an episode. I haven’t either, but those Olsen girls are all over. You’ve been blessed that you’ve avoided them. ---
**Author:** ![Pai325](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Pai325](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pai325)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2015, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-parents-give-birth-to-white-baby/710875/38 "2015-01-26T16:46:41Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > Funny, but seriously I tried to Google “nmachi ihegboro” and found tons of misattributed photos that are NOT her. A really bad noise-to-signal ratio on this topic. I haven’t even established if this is an internet hoax or not. I did, too, before I made my post. I found what you did, so I gave up. It’s surprising that there is nothing. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2015, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-parents-give-birth-to-white-baby/710875/39 "2015-01-26T17:20:53Z")
> [@Pai325](#): > > I haven’t either, but those Olsen girls are all over. You’ve been blessed that you’ve avoided them. I’m aware of them as celebrities now, but didn’t immediately recognize how they looked as small children. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2015, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-parents-give-birth-to-white-baby/710875/40 "2015-01-26T17:36:48Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > My oldest brother is sufficiently light-skinned that he could easily pass for white; in fact, given his reluctance to ever come home for holidays and to have any of his relatives meet any of his friends in the city where he lives, I would not be surprised if he actually IS passing. I think you should show up at his place of work one day by surprise, announce yourself as his high school buddy (you were buddies in high school) and take him out to lunch and see how he introduces your to his co-workers. If he claims you as his brother, then he is just avoiding the family because of the craziness you have long described. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-parents-give-birth-to-white-baby/710875.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-parents-give-birth-to-white-baby/710875.md?page=3)