How can good looking children have not particularly good looking parents?

[smyshna]

Genuine question, just curious if anyone else has noticed this.

DH is very conventionally attractive. His two sisters are also very pretty and both modelled when they were younger. DH has been scouted too but wasn’t interested.

His parents are lovely people, but neither is what you’d call conventionally attractive. Even looking at photos of them when they were younger, you wouldn’t say either was particularly good looking.

I know genetics is a lottery but it seems quite remarkable that all three children turned out good looking. They’re all genetically related. Has anyone else come across this?

I agree with this. Not that he is in the same looks league - imo - but I remember in the 90's, women of all ages were crazy about Mark Owen, even as a 17 year old I didn't get it and found Jason Orange far more attractive.

As Mark Owen aged, that almost elfin-like cute, boyish face started to look odd.

I was never into the boyish, cheeky look, but for sure, it doesn't age as well as someone who was 'less cute' in their youth.

Honestly? I think the Beckhams are all pretty average looking. Well groomed, Botox, good hairdressers/ personal trainers sure - but neither is stunningly beautiful naturally.

🙌

This is an interesting question. Both of my children are objectively better looking than myself or their father (XH) I just think they got lucky in the genetics lottery. Neither of us (parents) are hideous, just kind of average looking, but both kids, especially DH, would score higher than I/father would. I can look at them & see traits from GPs, etc, that they have, that I don’t, eg, DD has a perfect, small classic nose (like my mother’s) I have a lumpier one, she has more hourglass figure than me, I have a squarish trunk with straight waist -bust-hip.
It happens; trait inheritance is a complicated mixture of genes. I am happier that they are better-looking, so they won’t be comparing themselves negatively with others. Also, neither are particularly vain, an added bonus.

Again, NONE of the McCartneys are beautiful! Talented? Yes absolutely. Beautiful? Nope.

The parents are definitely more beautiful in this instance.

Lily depp looks like a hazelnut on a neck. Very odd looking woman.

makes the most of herself through starvation strict diet

She looks like a locust.

The girls are OK looking, Mary I think is quite attractive.

I gave the example of Paul's sun because he looks very similar to his dad but is absolutely unattractive.

But she’s talking about her DH’s family- adult children.

People inherit genes from a lot further back than just their parents. One of my children is ginger, the last ginger person in my family was my great grandmother (so my child’s great great grandmother). Recessive genes pop up randomly and so a child’s attractiveness isn’t entirely decided by what their parents look like.

FWIW me and my siblings seem to split 50:50 looks wise to the two sides of the family, half dark haired and half fair haired. My younger sister is taller than me, fairer and has always been physically a different shape - lots of people didn’t believe we were related as adults although as young kids we looked similar. I have step-children who all look totally different but are clearly related. One got blonde hair and blue eyes like their maternal grandma (who is more conventionally attractive than her mother) and inherited the height of her father, she turns heads regularly and could model because of her height and figure. Another is the spit of their mother, dark haired, dark eyed and short, whilst the third is more like their dad’s side of the family, light brown curls and tall but with hazel eyes.

Some people have multiple children that look like twins and others have children who look completely different despite you being able to see a clear familial link. Genetics are random.

While obvious some feature especially recessive ones like red hair - can skip many generation - I find it really strange that due to randomness of inheritance I may not share any DNA with an ancester beyond grandparents.

Hence why Y chromosome and mitochondrial DNA and are so important with DNA generations tracing.

No indeed- I was thinking about the impact of nutrition making DC different from their parents. That family leapt to mind.
Good nutrition does impact certain facial features- there was research done on Americans I think, showing certain metrics were influenced by nutrition. Possibly things like the cheek position and distance between the eyes? It was a long time ago that I read so forget the details.

Same reason good looking parents can end up with unattractive kids. A mix of genes.🤷‍♀️

Yeah, look at Demi Moore and Bruce Willis' kids. Both gorgeous in their prime but their kids are very plain (sorry that sounds horrible, but it's just an observation, not a judgement)

I don't think Victoria is pretty whatsoever. I agree about Harper and Romeo being better looking than the others, though.

Aww, well I love her, so perhaps beauty is in the eye of the beholder! She's very pretty to me. My girl crush! 🥹😍

How would you not share any genes with a great-grandparent? Surely you would share 12.5 percent on average? (50 with parent, 25 with grandparent, 12.5 with great-grandparent.) They're averages, yes, but surely you wouldn't have no genes in common with a g-gp?

I think Victoria is more attractive than David. She has nice eyes - dark and more open, which Brooklyn shares with her.

David has very minimal eyes, which to me is a less attractive feature.

Agree. I saw her close up once in a shop. Without makeup and hair extensions etc, she’s extremely plain.

I don't think David is attractive at all now. He looked better when he was younger. Victoria does have quite nice eyes but I still don't think she is pretty overall. Certainly not so much so that it is surprising that some of her kids are quite plain.

That doesn't surprise me at all. She is very well groomed, but that isnt the same as being a natural beauty.

I thought this about Greece, stunning young women and older women not so much to be very, very polite about it.

I’m a pale redhead with green eyes
my mum is dark olive skin, brown eyes and black hair
yet we look so alike I’ve been stopped in the street as “X.. you’re her daughter?”
we also share the same amount of west African DNA
my cousins have her colouring and were often mistaken for her children
my dad and I look nothing alike at all