# Can birthmarks be hereditary? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 2, 2007, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-birthmarks-be-hereditary/414094 "2007-08-02T07:10:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![RedRosesForMe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/91b2a8/32.png) [@RedRosesForMe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedRosesForMe)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2007, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-birthmarks-be-hereditary/414094/1 "2007-08-02T07:10:50Z")
My sister just had a baby girl a week ago. She was born with a light strawberry birthmark on her forehead and left eyelid. Her sister, now 6, was born with a birthmark on her forehead and right eyelid. My sister, their mother, was born with the same birthmark (in my sister’s and older niece’s cases, the faded in infancy). I just found out another relative (1st cousin once removed?) was born with a similar birthmark. Just a remarkable coincidence, or is there a hereditary aspect of birthmarks? ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2007, 8:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-birthmarks-be-hereditary/414094/2 "2007-08-02T08:58:41Z")
They’re not generally considered to be hereditary, but in some cases, port wine stains (a specific type of birthmark - like the one Mikhail Gorbachev has) seem to have familial occurrence. There are also cases where an underlying hereditary genetic disorder causes the appearance of birthmarks, such as [Sturge-Weber syndrome](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sturge-Weber_syndrome) (although in that case, the birthmarks are quite trivial compared to the other symptoms). ---
**Author:** ![RedRosesForMe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/91b2a8/32.png) [@RedRosesForMe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedRosesForMe)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2007, 9:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-birthmarks-be-hereditary/414094/3 "2007-08-02T09:06:36Z")
:eek: [hypochondriac] That Sturge-Weber syndrome link says that it causes birthmarks on the forehead and upper eyelid… which is exactly where my sister and nieces have it! [/hypochondriac] Odd, that. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2007, 9:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-birthmarks-be-hereditary/414094/4 "2007-08-02T09:12:53Z")
Yeah, but it’s: -Extremely rare -Associated with a whole bunch of other quite conspicuous symptoms, which you couldn’t have failed to notice. ---
**Author:** ![Tranquilis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tranquilis/32/3639_2.png) [@Tranquilis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tranquilis)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2007, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-birthmarks-be-hereditary/414094/5 "2007-08-02T15:29:22Z")
Anecdotally, it seems that some birthmarks run in families. My daughter was born with a blue mark\* on her back, in exactly the same place my older sister had one. Just as with my sister, it faded away to unnoticeability in a few years. They’re aren’t the only ones, either, though I can’t attest to placement for the others. All were female, though - No blue marks on the guys. \*Sometimes called a [Mongolian Blue Spot](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mongolian_spot). Legacy of the trace amount of Chumash blood in the family. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2007, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-birthmarks-be-hereditary/414094/6 "2007-08-02T15:35:48Z")
My wife and daughter have the same birthmark on the left side of their bellies. It is about the size of a dime and very distinctive although not unattractive. There aren’t any other marks around so we always assumed that it was inherited. Me, my father, and my two bothers have a dark, distinctive freckle on exactly the same place on our right ears. My grandfather did as well. I am skeptical that this stuff is all that rare. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2007, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-birthmarks-be-hereditary/414094/7 "2007-08-02T15:45:54Z")
[QUOTE=Tranquilis] \*Sometimes called a [Mongolian Blue Spot](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mongolian_spot). Legacy of the trace amount of Chumash blood in the family. [/QUOTE] Holy crow! Thanks! My son has one of those on his lower back. The doc said it was just a type of birthmark and nothing to worry about. But I didn’t know what it was called or anything. I wonder where it came from, given that my husband and I are both of Russian Jewish descent. But then again, his grandmother was from the more Eastern part of Russia…I wonder if my son ended up with a drop of Mongolian blood! Well, it’s fun to think about, anyway. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Tranquilis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tranquilis/32/3639_2.png) [@Tranquilis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tranquilis)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2007, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-birthmarks-be-hereditary/414094/8 "2007-08-02T16:03:17Z")
Yeah, they look like pale bruises, are almost always on the back, and fade around age four or five. Quite harmless, and given your ethnic history, entirely normal.