An African-born couple says there was a moment of silence in the room as their baby was born with white skin and blonde hair, and they stared at each other in shock.
When the child, who is past the age of believing that the storks brought him, grows up, he asks his parents, “Am I adopted?” He’s sure to ask. Now let’s take a look at how such a thing is actually possible.
When a blond and white-skinned child was born from a Nigerian family, the delivery room was a bit confused, of course…
When Nigerian father Ben Ihegboro saw his blond and white-skinned daughters, he could not believe for a while that it was his child, and the doctors in the room were looking at the father with concern as if he was not the father of the child.
The 44-year-old father states that he experienced a momentary shock, but that he never suspected his wife, Angela, and that there was no problem between them. When we look at the baby, it is not difficult to see that it has the features of both its mother and father. When the DNA test was done, it was clearly revealed that they were the parents of the baby.
The first thing that comes to mind is that the baby is albino, but Nmachi is not albino!
It was confirmed by the doctors that he did not have albino disease, which is caused by the deficiency of the enzyme that produces the color pigment in the skin. So how is it that a child with blond hair and white skin can be born from a black family?
Doctors describe this situation as “extraordinary”.
According to scientists, this situation is not impossible, but it cannot be fully explained today. The family also had 2 more black children when their blonde baby Nmachi was born.
The most common view by experts is that the African-origin Ihegboro family carries a small genetic mutation that predominates, but there are other theories.
“How about a white baby in a black family?” Other theories for the question are as follows:
Another theory scientists suggest is that the parents have a family history of the inactive white gene, or that Nmachi’s albino disease has an unknown gene mutation.
If it’s neither of these, a unique genetic mutation may have emerged that doctors haven’t seen before. Thus, if the blonde baby has Nmachi’s child, she too can be born white.
Even if all this makes sense, when we look back and look at the photo again, we can say: “People are really astonished…”
- Sources: BBC, NY Post, Afro Culture, Face 2 Face Africa