How likely is it that my grandson will keep his grey eyes?

Factual Questions
1

His momma has beautiful light blue eyes. His dad, my son, has brown eyes. All the way down the paternal line, my son’s ancestors were Black and have brown eyes. On my side, my dad, also Black, has brown eyes all the way down as far as I know. My mom also had brown eyes but my abuela had hazel eyes, whose color was determined mostly by the clothes she wore.

My grandson is ten days old now with steely grey eyes and not that newborn blue you sometimes see (and that my son had before his eyes turned brown before he even left the hospital) in babies in the hospital.

I remember learning Punnett squares in high school. Which would have my grandson’s chances of keeping his not brown eyes down pretty low. Even if browned eyed great grandpa had a hidden not brown gene. But this is complicated by the fact that eye color isn’t as simple as originally thought and, as I’m reading, hazel eyes are sort of brown eyes that didn’t make it all the way.

So. . . whaddaya think? I say they’ll turn brown soon enough. Everyone else disagrees. Also, why are a lot of babies born with blue eyes? Do we even really know how eye color comes about? I’m a grandma! How adorable is my grandson? Can that even be calculated?

2

My grandsons are half Filipino, my daughter (their mom) is brunette with very dark hazel eyes. Both boys have blue eyes. Practically everyone in my family has/had blue eyes. We just knew her children would look more Filipino, but no. They do resemble their dad somewhat, but those blue eyes will knock you down. Beautiful!!

3

Despite Mrs.Gnu’s denials, my 5-month-old son has grey eyes as well. He was also born with a full head of red hair. I’m curious to see if or how both change in the coming months.

Blue eyes in babies is a lack of melanin at birth. It is my understanding that eye color has dominant and recessive traits, but it’s multiple genes involved, so not super straightforward.

I’ve also learned, from questions about the origins of his red hair, that people really don’t understand basic genetics.

4

If he got the hazel gene, he has a chance.

I have a cousin with green eyes. I swear they are green, and not grey, or dark blue. Everyone living, and whom I have personally known in my father’s family, except this one cousin, has had brown eyes, and pretty dark. I had a great-great-great-grandfather who was Irish, and was said to have blue eyes. There are two extant pictures of him, neither in color, but his eyes do look light. Everyone else has been Jewish and brown-eyed.

My uncle married a woman, Jewish, but from Germany, and with medium brown hair and hazel eyes. One of their children, this cousin, has green eyes, so clearly my uncle has the blue-eyed gene, but gave it to only one of his four children. Interestingly, only one of his four children has the straight, medium brown hair from my aunt, and it’s a different child. The other three, including the one with green eyes, have the dark brown, curly hair.

That gene lurked for several generations without popping up. I don’t know whether I have it. My husband has blue eyes, and our son does not, but that means only that I passed a brown-eyed gene onto him, not that I have only brown-eyed genes. My brother and I both have brown eyes, but so did our mother, and both of her parents.

So there’s just no way to know except by watching and waiting.

ETA: your grandson is, of course, adorable.

5

According to this article, you’ll have your answer in 6-9 months. I suspect they may get darker but if they aren’t brown now they’ll probably stay non-brown, if that makes sense.
Also, your grandson probably scores at least a .95 on the Red Panda cuteness scale but you might have a bias there… :slight_smile:

6

Eye color genetics is really strange. My wife has green eyes, although her licence says hazel, while mine are definitely blue. Our daughter has brown eyes and both sons’ are blue. Go figure.

7

I was wondering about this the other day. My two ginger kittens were born with beautiful blue eyes. Now at 6 months they are golden yellow. I am curious as to the evolutionary advantage that causes eye color to change.

8

This article was helpful. Although it did confirm what I already suspected-- we’ll find out when we find out!

9

You might find this article interesting.

How Blue Eyed Parents Can Have Brown Eyed Children

10

Evolution doesn’t work that way.

11

Sometimes it does, but not always. Not every trait that gets exhibited does so because it confers some advantage, although some do. It just doesn’t have to confer some disadvantage.

12

This is also very informative. Still, it looks like short of giving the parents both a 23 and Me Kit, there isn’t any way to tell except with the passage of time.