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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

to wonder where my redheaded blue-eyed baby came from?

132 replies

retrocutie · 15/01/2013 08:39

So, we have just had a gorgeous little DD. We are very happy, she is lovely. Her brothers love her and everything's great. We were just a bit shocked by what she looks like...

My DH is Mediterranean, so very swarthy and dark. Our DS's look just like him. I am pale with light blonde hair and green eyes. Our DSs have dark hair and eyes like DH.

However, DD has bright ginger hair and blue eyes! How did this happen? I didn't think it was possible, genetically speaking? I feel that people are a bit and wondering if I had an affair (I didn't). Has anybody heard of this before? I just want to have an answer ready for the next time somebody asks me. Thanks.

OP posts:

YouCanCallMeBetty · 15/01/2013 09:04

Agree that red genes are recessive, so although both you and your DH must carry them they may not have surfaced on your DH's side for generations.

I am a redhead; was a big surprise as DM is brown-haired and DF is very dark. But subsequently both sides of the family have produced more surprise redheads, so the gene is there somewhere.

VisualiseAHorse · 15/01/2013 09:06

In order to create a ginger baby, both you and your hubby need to have a 'recessive' ginger gene, which, being recessive, obviously means that it may have been hidden in the family tree for years.

Original poster

retrocutie · 15/01/2013 09:06

To the poster who asked about chemo, I had a friend (male) who had chemo. Prior to that, he had quite thin, dead straight hair. After the chemo, his hair grew back thick and curly like Leo Sayer!

OP posts:

5dcsinneedofacleaner · 15/01/2013 09:06

I have red hair dh has dark brown. We have two brown haied children, two red and one blonde!

StanleyLambchop · 15/01/2013 09:08

My great, great grandmother, born in 1825, had red hair. I know this because , in an entire family of brunettes, she appears to be the one & only red head. And then, as in now, people asked questions- where did she come from? etc. So this story of the red-headed grandma has been handed down the generations. As far as I am aware, there have been no red-heads since. I was desperately hoping my children would inherit that gene as I love red-hair, but sadly no, they followed the brunette line. Got the wonky teeth though (curses at cost of orthodintics!)

BertieBotts · 15/01/2013 09:10

All babies are born with blue eyes, they change colour later on.

weegiemum · 15/01/2013 09:11

My dh is black grey haired, blue eyes.
I'm dark brunette with very bright blue eyes.

Dd1 has hair like mine and dark brown eyes
Ds has mousy brown hair and the most startling grey eyes
Dd2 exactly like dd1

As dh and I both have blue eyes the brown-eyed girls should not be genetically possible, as brown is dominant. Both my Dad and fil have the same dark brown eyes as our girls. It's very confusing but I swear he's the father!

melika · 15/01/2013 09:12

Both my sister and I had a child with red hair, the SAME shade of red hair. Our husbands have no red haired people in their family as far as we know. They both have brown eyes, they could be brother and sister really but they are cousins. My Mom was red haired and my maternal uncle had it. I was red until the age of three. I always thought that it was passed down from my Moms line and there were some in my Dads family (Irish). My son is more brown/auburn now, rather a lovely colour, as is my neices!

How could this happen?

spongebobsquareeyes · 15/01/2013 09:13

Yes we had this. DP is dark haired with brown eyes, I am dark haired with blue eyes. DD1 is dark haired with brown eyes and DD2 was born strawberry blonde with blue eyes! We got a few looks when DD2 was born. My grandfather was strawberry blonde though so that must be where it came from! She is closer to a dirty blonde, light brown colour now and apart from her colouring she really looks like DP but also looks like my mum!?!?

I studied a bit of genetics when I did Human Biology and it ll made sense to me then, but its all about recessive and dominant genes, can't remember exactly how it works though! Absolutely fascinating.

Cherriesarelovely · 15/01/2013 09:13

Funnily enough, we had a meal out on mybirthday and were served by a lovely young waitress with blue eyes and the most stunning red hair. I complemented her on it and she told me a very similar story to your own!! No red heads in the family that she knows of. She actually said that when she was born her hair wasalmost pink!!!! How cool is that?! Congratulations!!!!

redwallday · 15/01/2013 09:14

Myself and DH are very dark haired with dark eyes. My DS came out with lovely red hair and bright blue eyes! He's now 4 and is gorgeous! My DD was born with masses of thick dark brown hair like mine and dark eyes. Both totally different! Apparently my great, great grandad had red hair! Enjoy her! Hair colour means nothing!

Rockdoctor · 15/01/2013 09:15

Hi Retro - same thing happened to us! For ages I thought DD's hair would change colour but 2 years down the track she is definitely a redhead.

Funnily enough, my DH's family is also mediterranean. For years, my MIL has gone on about her beautiful redheaded great grandmother (just like StanleyLamb's post) - which we always took with a pinch of salt. Looks like we were wrong.

HairyPotter · 15/01/2013 09:16

Dh and I are dark haired, I have brown eyes and he has green. Dd1 is dark haired with the most amazing pale blue eyes and dd2 is her spitting image but with the most gorgeous red hair. People don't notice how similar they are because the can't see past the red hair.

When dd2 was a couple of years old we discovered that her great grandad used to have fiery red hair. Dh had only ever know him when he was grey. Genetics are fascinating.

I will admit to saying the same as someone else ^ up there. Yes, our postman/milkman has red hair when the jokes came flying.

RuleBritannia · 15/01/2013 09:17

It's not just chemotherapy that changes hair colour. I had hairs on my chin removed by electrolysis (which works for those interested) and then had a period of not going. The hair on my head and my whiskers was grey white and some of the new whiskers hairs on my chin grew back black which was my original hair colour

quirrelquarrel · 15/01/2013 09:20

I have a fiery ginger cousin with dark brown eyes- most of us have light coloured eyes and none of us are ginger.....we loved it when she was born and hoped it would stay, and it has!

Congrats on your lovely baby.

BoysWillGrow · 15/01/2013 09:21

Op have a look at my pics on my profile, I'm mixed race, my DS and dd are soo pale ginger (my dd with bright blue eyes) my middle DS has my colouring though. Looks very odd I often think people are a bit when they see us out with their dad, but oh well thats genetics for ya.

verytellytubby · 15/01/2013 09:21

My Indian friend and her dark haired DH have a red haired son with green eyes. He's beautiful.

poozlepants · 15/01/2013 09:24

My sister and I both have red haired kids. Although our respective husbands have red hair in their families (though not themselves), we didn't know of any in our family. Turns out my great grandmother's brother who died in WWI was a ginge. It appears that our kids are the only ones in the large extended family to have inherited the ginger hair. Now my mother only has ginger haired grandchildren. Weird.

Lavenderhoney · 15/01/2013 09:29

We have a fabulous redhead ds with amazing blue eyes:) bit of a shocker at birth what with us being dark with blue eyes. Our dd is blonde with blue eyes:) mil was her usual tactless self, even though dh was red haired at birth! She forgot, apparently. And once we were asked if we adopted ds right on front of him. Er, no!

Blurgirl · 15/01/2013 09:29

I have three brothers and one is a redhead, the rest of us brunette. I had loads of dark hair at birth and one of my brothers went really blonde as a toddler. He now has 2 blonde girls, my redhead brother has 2 redheads and I have 1 girl just like me! Her eyes were dark blue to start with and are now hazel-green like me. We used to joke about our redhead brother being the milkman's. I think he's always felt like the odd one out!

NumericalMum · 15/01/2013 09:30

Your children are beautiful Boys my dd had a friend in nursery who was fair and blond but his sister was very dark. He then had a younger sister who was also dark. Similar to you his dad is mixed race and his mum is very fair. I always find genetics amazing!

We had a girl at school when we were doing genetics who had blue eyes and both her parents were brown eyed. The teacher said it wasn't possible and she admitted she was adopted but had never told anyone!

NumericalMum · 15/01/2013 09:31

We had a girl at school when we were doing genetics who had brown eyes and both her parents were blue eyed. The teacher said it wasn't possible and she admitted she was adopted but had never told anyone!

NumericalMum · 15/01/2013 09:32

Oops!

snowybrrr · 15/01/2013 09:42

Don't know! Is your milkman a ginge ?

LoveAndSqualor · 15/01/2013 09:42

exDP and I both have dark brown hair but produced a white-blonde child (he's darkening now, reckon he'll end up brown eventually). But more marked is my DSD - DP and his exDP are both very dark; DP has dark brown hair and eyes, his exDP is half-brazilian. But DSD has rich red hair, blue eyes and milky skin. Apparently when she was out with her mum when she was little people used to assume she (her mum) was the nanny! They both have Irish blood in their background; presumably some redheads back there somewhere. Plus side: she's absolutely gorgeous

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