Audio By Carbonatix
Genetics experts have been amazed by the birth of a blonde, blue-eyed white baby - to a black couple.
Doctors insist tiny Nmachi is not an albino and neither of the parents has any mixed-race family history.
Dad Ben Ihegboro, 44, a railway customer services adviser, said: "We both just sat there after the birth staring at her for ages - not saying anything.
"The first thing I said was 'What the flip?'."
Nmachi, whose name means Beauty of God in the Nigerian homeland of parents Angela and Ben, was born at Queen Mary's Hospital in Sidcup, Kent.
Doctors there told them she is not an albino.
"She doesn't look like an albino child anyway - not like the ones I've seen back in Nigeria or in books," Ben told The Sun. "She just looks like a healthy white baby."
Ben added: "Of course, she's mine. My wife is true to me. Even if she hadn't been, the baby still wouldn't look like that.
"We don't know of any white ancestry. We wondered if it was a genetic twist. But even then, what's with the long curly blonde hair?"
Professor Bryan Sykes, head of Human Genetics at Oxford University, said: "In mixed race humans, the lighter variant of skin tone may come out in a child - and this can sometimes be startlingly different to the skin of the parents.
"This might be the case where there is a lot of genetic mixing, as in Afro-Caribbean populations. But in Nigeria there is little mixing."
He said that both parents would have needed some form of white ancestry for a pale version of their genes to be passed on.
"The hair is extremely unusual," Prof Sykes said. "Even many blonde children don't have blonde hair like this at birth."
Some form of unknown mutation was the most likely explanation, he added.
The couple, of Woolwich, south London, have two other children, four-year-old Chisom and sister Dumebi, two.
Mum Angela, 35, told the paper: "Nmachi's colour doesn't matter. She's a miracle baby. But still, what on earth happened here?"
Source: Sky News
DISCLAIMER: The Views, Comments, Opinions, Contributions and Statements made by Readers and Contributors on this platform do not necessarily represent the views or policy of Multimedia Group Limited.
Tags:
DISCLAIMER: The Views, Comments, Opinions, Contributions and Statements made by Readers and Contributors on this platform do not necessarily represent the views or policy of Multimedia Group Limited.
Latest Stories
-
Netherlands donates new scanners to boost Ghana’s fight against drug trafficking
13 minutes -
CEDA commends Lands Minister over lithium agreement talks amid resignition demands
15 minutes -
NPP Flagbearer Race: Reckless politics threatens party unity — Kozie warns
42 minutes -
R2Bees drop ‘Two Two’ and ‘Awurade Aye’, hint at 2026 EP
50 minutes -
‘There Is Rice At Home’ returns to the stage on December 18
1 hour -
77th Mafi Hogbetsotso: Traditional leaders call for unity and peace to drive development in Central Tongu
2 hours -
Lands Ministry touts gains in forest restoration
2 hours -
Building capacity for climate action: The CAP25 Story
2 hours -
Chamber of Mines urges caution over proposed mineral royalty reforms
2 hours -
Ghana has serious domestic challenges; international charity demands careful scrutiny – Afenyo-Markin
2 hours -
IMF Board approves Ghana’s 5th Programme review, $300m+ disbursement expected
2 hours -
Kwesi Botchway Jnr seeks status report from Attorney-General on EOCO galamsey probe
3 hours -
Minority’s call for Lands Minister’s resignation lacks substance – Ministry
3 hours -
President Mahama cuts sod for Ho Oxygen City Project
3 hours -
Minority demands clarification on GH₵10m relief donations and Ghanaian troop deployment
3 hours
