# "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:** 17\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2015, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-parents-give-birth-to-white-baby/710875/41 "2015-01-26T17:46:58Z")
Slightly off-topic, not making any racial judgements, but I did note how light Obama’s skin colour is, considering his father was (AFAIK) pure Kenyan and his mother pure white. It reinforces the observation that children can have a fairly wide range of coloration (but usually between the two parents’ colours). (Again, with no implications for the word “pure”) But to the OP - presumably there are assorted genes for skin colour; the odds are that the distribution of the genes and their relative resultant strength of melanin production would follow a bell curve, so the majority of children would be between the parents. Plus, mutations do happen. I suppose the point is that with 7 billion people on the world, more than a billion of African ancestry, the odds suggest something like this might happen once in a while. Perhaps the kid should buy a lottery ticket. ---
**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, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-parents-give-birth-to-white-baby/710875/42 "2015-01-26T17:49:15Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > 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) I’ve seen them all. And in that one, the boyfriend thinks she’s Hispanic! ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2015, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-parents-give-birth-to-white-baby/710875/43 "2015-01-26T18:08:30Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > Occam’s Razor suggests to me that the husband’s faith in his wife’s fidelity is in error. If the mother had had an affair with the King of Norway, on top of a Swiss Alp, while listening to Abba and eating lutefisk, the baby would not be that white. Heck, if _I_ had an affair with the King of Norway, the baby would probably not be that white, but it would have a bigger nose. This is a not-unheard-of spontaneous mutation. Every couple of years, I see a newspaper article about a couple who are African, but have a baby that looks white, but not albino, just pink and blonde, or with light brown hair. I know someone who is technically a geneticist, but works mostly with insects, so not an expert on humans, who nonetheless commented that Caucasians probably arose in a few generations, rather than gradually by degrees, when a small group of Africans with a tendency to produce this mutation moved really far North, and what would be a drawback near the equator was an advantage, and the mutation became the dominant form. Some of those people moved back South, and mixed with more groups coming North, which is why you have the clear gradation of skin and hair color going from South to North in Europe. Try Googling “African couple has white baby,” or something, and lots of articles pop up, most claiming this is very rare or even unique, while the number of articles show that it’s unusual, but very far from unique. It probably happens to African Americans, and African Europeans, who have known Caucasian ancestry, but people don’t realize it’s a mutation, and think it’s just recessive genes popping up. When I was in AIT (one stage of military training), there was a woman who probably had this mutation. She had sort of auburn hair, and really pale skin, with freckles, and blue eyes. She was clearly not an albino, but she have pretty pale skin, with African American features. She showed me a picture of her parents, and they just looked black-- they were biracial, or at least, that word didn’t come to mind. She said she was blonde as a little kid, but her hair got darker as she got older. ---
**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, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-parents-give-birth-to-white-baby/710875/44 "2015-01-26T20:11:38Z")
Maybe the evil [Yakub](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yakub_%28Nation_of_Islam%29) did it. ---
**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, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-parents-give-birth-to-white-baby/710875/45 "2015-01-26T20:22:49Z")
> [@The\_Second\_Stone](#): > > 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. We don’t live in the same city, and I’m not sure of his workplace. He’s very cagey about it. ---
**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, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-parents-give-birth-to-white-baby/710875/46 "2015-01-26T20:41:02Z")
Well, he’s probably worried about the damn bees. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2015, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-parents-give-birth-to-white-baby/710875/47 "2015-01-26T22:23:12Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > I’m aware of them as celebrities now, but didn’t immediately recognize how they looked as small children. About the same as they look now. [![](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/08/04/article-1300373-0AB03013000005DC-186_468x515.jpg) ](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/08/04/article-1300373-0AB03013000005DC-186_468x515.jpg) [![](http://cdn.businessoffashion.com/uploads/media/header_image/0001/01/thumb_eb7cf0e576fcf37755a14facad3c6ba8dab6f2a8_header_image_header.jpeg) ](http://cdn.businessoffashion.com/uploads/media/header_image/0001/01/thumb_eb7cf0e576fcf37755a14facad3c6ba8dab6f2a8_header_image_header.jpeg) > [@John\_Mace](#): > > I’ve seen them all. And in that one, the boyfriend thinks she’s Hispanic! “You mean we’re just two white people? Huh. Wanna go to The Gap?” ---
**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, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-parents-give-birth-to-white-baby/710875/48 "2015-01-26T22:31:43Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > [http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/08/04/article-1300373-0AB03013000005DC-186\_468x515.jpg](http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/08/04/article-1300373-0AB03013000005DC-186_468x515.jpg) > [http://cdn.businessoffashion.com/uploads/media/header\_image/0001/01/thumb\_eb7cf0e576fcf37755a14facad3c6ba8dab6f2a8\_header\_image\_header.jpeg](http://cdn.businessoffashion.com/uploads/media/header_image/0001/01/thumb_eb7cf0e576fcf37755a14facad3c6ba8dab6f2a8_header_image_header.jpeg) Actually, it looks like they might have some raccoon ancestry. ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2015, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-parents-give-birth-to-white-baby/710875/49 "2015-01-26T23:34:23Z")
> [@bob\_2](#): > > 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. Hijack: is this because in the womb they’re not exposed to UV light so the skin doesn’t produce as much melanin in utero? ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2015, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-parents-give-birth-to-white-baby/710875/50 "2015-01-27T03:28:43Z")
> [@bob\_2](#): > > 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. This always comes into play in melodramas when they want it to be crystal clear that that white woman’s new baby is definitely NOT the child of the white man by her side (e.g., **Nip/Tuck** ). ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2015, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-parents-give-birth-to-white-baby/710875/51 "2015-01-27T03:37:45Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > This always comes into play in melodramas when they want it to be crystal clear that that white woman’s new baby is definitely NOT the child of the white man by her side (e.g., **Nip/Tuck** ). I wonder how they pulled off that illusion in Shakespeare’s time? (Titus Andronicus) ---
**Author:** ![Omega\_Glory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7c8e57/32.png) [@Omega\_Glory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omega_Glory)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2015, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-parents-give-birth-to-white-baby/710875/52 "2015-01-27T04:47:45Z")
> [@purplehorseshoe](#): > > Hijack: is this because in the womb they’re not exposed to UV light so the skin doesn’t produce as much melanin in utero? If this was the case, the color change wouldn’t be (mostly) uniform, would it? ---
**Author:** ![Chief\_Pedant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a6a055/32.png) [@Chief\_Pedant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chief_Pedant)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2015, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-parents-give-birth-to-white-baby/710875/53 "2015-01-27T13:02:15Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > Genetics and skin color is discussed here a lot. Could the geneticists here comment on this? It is being played as a sensational story, naturally. I am not even an amateur geneticist, but my inclination on this is that if you want to get a closer idea of ancestral pools, have some DNA tests done. Appearance–esp related to skin tone–is not a very reliable marker of net regional population ancestry for any given individual. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2015, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-parents-give-birth-to-white-baby/710875/54 "2015-03-03T15:30:30Z")
A more attractive case just (re-)reported. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2015, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-parents-give-birth-to-white-baby/710875/55 "2015-03-03T15:36:31Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > … > When I was in AIT (one stage of military training), there was a woman who probably had this mutation. She had sort of auburn hair, and really pale skin, with freckles, and blue eyes. She was clearly not an albino, but she have pretty pale skin, with African American features. She showed me a picture of her parents, and they just looked black-- they were biracial, or at least, that word didn’t come to mind. She said she was blonde as a little kid, but her hair got darker as she got older. All together now, "Funny, she doesn’t _look_… ---
**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:** [March 3, 2015, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-parents-give-birth-to-white-baby/710875/56 "2015-03-03T16:25:07Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > A more attractive case just (re-)reported. They have 5 children who are all, I presume, 1/4 African\* and 3/4 European. It’s not surprising there is a wide range of appearances. The fact that the two girls are twins makes no difference as they are, obviously, fraternal twins. \*At most, since I would presume most Jamaicans are mixed race to begin with, and the mother is said to be “1/2 Jamaican”. ---
**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:** [March 3, 2015, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-parents-give-birth-to-white-baby/710875/57 "2015-03-03T18:42:39Z")
Actually, aside from skin, eye, and hair color, the two girls look quite similar facially, having the same facial, nose, and eye shape. The “black” twin’s wider lips appear to be largely an effect of makeup, since they are similar to her twin’s in the earlier photos. Likewise the “white” twin’s straight hair seems to be just due to how she is wearing it; the hair texture of the twins seems to have been similar when they were young. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-parents-give-birth-to-white-baby/710875.md?page=2)