Lowri Turner talks about mixed Indian/White babies (well, hers actually) in todays Guardian, what do you all think?

[WideWebWitch]

Full article here

She says things like

But we dont live in an ideal world and the way we all look matters. My daughters appearance is an issue to others as well as myself. A (white) friend visited yesterday and having examined the baby, she announced: Shes getting quite dark, isnt she? And I am ashamed to admit that in a reversal of what happens on holiday when you study your skin in the mirror every day hoping for a deepening tan, I too now find myself examining my daughter for signs that her skin is becoming a deeper shade of brown and being perturbed if I find them.

I am at this. My ds is half Indian.

And:

While I genuinely dont think that my not being Indian was a factor that counted against me with my husband or his family, I did underestimate the difference between our cultural backgrounds when we were first together. Our daughter will have to cope with being the product of two very different cultures. She will have to negotiate her own cultural identity, and I know too little to really help her.

I am intending to leave the Indian side of my daughters upbringing to my in-laws. This may seem a cop out, but, frankly, Im too knackered to do otherwise. If I had adopted her, social services would probably whip her away. However, working and bringing up three children, I havent the energy to learn Hindi or make my own lassi

BTW Ive taken apostrophes and quotation marks out as they come out strangely in preview but you get the gist.

I find it utterly weird that people think that somehow journalism happens by accident. You don't mean to write offensive crap, it just happens to you. You don't mean to write stuff with the power to hurt your kids, it just falls from the sky.
Bloody hell, writing isn't an accident. You THINK about it. And most people think, 'hmm...would this hurt my child to read it in five/ten/twenty years' and if the answer is remotely 'yes', you don't do it. I can write about autism without exploiting my child. It's not difficult. It may not pay quite so well though.

I found the article terribly sad (and a pile of tosh). It reminded me of a Sunday Times article about LT and her identical twin some time ago (I think it was a Relative Values article). IIRC they have another sister who has learning disabilities - and this sister was institutionalised as a child. OK - that probably happened a great deal in the 60s and 70s , but it hardly ties in with this terribly 'liberal' background that she keeps describing.

I feel for her daughter when she's old enough to read that article and understand what LT has said about her - poor wee scrap.

Most families are obsessed (for want of a better word) about skin colour. Asian, Caribbean, African.... pale skin is prized to the extent that men and women buy skin bleaching products in order to 'fit in'. The fact that Lowri Turner is fearing the prospect of her daughter's skin darkening at such an early stage of motherhood makes me pity her! She clearly feels so strongly about it that she is prepared to put it in print!

I very much doubt that the child?s skin is that much darker that it is strikingly obvious and that strangers comment on it its just that her sons a fair by comparison. Get over it woman!! I hope that the husband is more intelligent because that kid need to grow up feeling part of a loving family not a dark skinned add-on! Snap out of it woman and start acting like that child?s Mother!

Dreadful woman - I only hope that her daughter never reads this when she's old enough.

I despised LT before, but this 'pimping' out of her multi-ethnic infant for tabloid cash and a nice bit of notoriety is truly skin-crawling.

I don't know what I find more unbelievable - her ignorance, her racism or her crappy maternal skills.

She has only just given birth, AND split up from the 'non-Indian looking' Nicol Batra (!!!). Should I be generous and say that she may be having a bit of the baby blues?

Hell no!! She is just purely awful!

PS: Liz Jones and Nirpal have been back together for a few weeks now. He wrote about it in Grazia - now there's a surprise!

Sorry to resurrect this thread but I've only just come across it and couldn't resist...

Lowry Turner said in her article:

"Part of the grief I am going through with my daughter is the loss of the possibility that she will look like me."

let's hope that means that the poor little girl will get away with loking like a beaver then!

How fortunate this little girl is to be mixed race!

i was appalled to read her comments on her mixed race baby. However i had similar thoughts in reverse when my youngest was born.My 2 eldest are mixed race and i bonded straight away with both of them. My youngest is white and fair haired and although i couldnt admit it at the time i found it hard to bond with her. looking back i know i had PN depression but at the time i 'thought' it was because she was different from my other 'babies', she didnt seem like mine. I can only think that Lowri Turner must also be suffering PND as it makes you think all sorts of strange things. If not she's just wicked and doesnt deserve her beautiful daughter. Just hope she doesnt grow up and read her mothers opinions.

I think she'll regret writing that when her dd grows up.

I've a friend whose daughter is half Indian (her mum died) - he's white but to me, she looks just as much like her dad as her mum.

Really Lowri, you should be looking beyond first impressions and quite frankly I hope your pen runs out of ink.

Blimey, just re skimmed this thread, I wonder if Lowri Turner regrets writing this?

i really dont care what my babys skin will look like when shes born next month but just the fact her indian dad wont be around to see her. My other 2 children are blonde and fair skinned and yes almost probably their sister will look nothing like them...to me this ISNT a problem although she may find it hard as she grows up with other small minded ppl making it an issue. My two daughters dont even look like me lol so why will my unborn baby girls skin make any difference?
Id have loved for her to be able to know about both sides of her heritage but sadly he wants no part in her life.

sorry to hear that muttley

I have two blonde/blue eyed children and half indian dts. So far the dts haven't encountered any problems. They are only 3yo yet, and seem to attract quite a bit attention from other indian children and their blonde sibling has been asked if she is indian too! You can teach her about her father's culture yourself.

She's written an update/justification for this article in Grazia this week. Hang on, will try to find it...

oh and none of mine look like me, I'm not blonde or asian!

I'm sorry, there can be no justification.

The presence of a mixed-race child may be a constant reminder for her of a relationship that didn't work out(as if her other children aren't), but you should never talk about your child like that

ahem

one day she will be able to read it herself

Nope, can't find it. Grazia doesn't appear to do an online edition.

she is an attention seeking drama queen.
So do all Indian families make there own lassi i think not!!
Im white as they come and i make lassi because i like it! I cant do yorkshire puds to save my live though!!

How DO you make lassi?
I don't know anyone who makes it! We all buy it from indian supermarkets.

I'm getting deja vu here. She already spouted this crap and I've already had this discussion on MN, can't believe she is STILL attention seeking, silly bint.

the thread is a year old.

yogurt water salt and ice or yogurt water sugar and ice if having sweet version use the flesh of a mango too
a big tub of yogurt with about 200ml water then whisk in the sugar(caster or icing best, 1-2 tbl sp) or salt, add mago flesh chuck in a load of ice and its done

chopstheduck

turner revived it

i would have given it a dnr

The baby's father was so upset he got an injunction preventing Lowri Turner naming her child in print or using a photograph of her. Good for him. Unfortunately this hasn't stopped her whining about her daughter's skin colour yet again in Grazia. Horrible, horrible woman.

Ah, that explains it then!!!!

She's still a silly bint!

"Part of the grief I am going through with my daughter is the loss of the possibility that she will look like me."

I just stumbled across this thread. Apart from the obvious idiotic remarks about her child's cultural heritage which you have all remarked on already. I found this quote particularly offensive. It suggests that

1. Having a child who doesn't look like oneself is something to be ashamed of.
2. What right has she to talk about 'grief' in this context? She has three healthy children. What about all the mums who grieve for the children they lost in pregnancy of in baby/childhood? What about all those women who grieve for the children they will never give birth to?

I have a son who is 2yrs. He also looks nothing like me, he is adopted. I love him with all my heart and soul. As far as I am concerned my DS has avoided being freakishly tall and short sighted by not inheriting my genes!

My son was at school with Lowri Turner's eldest child for a while. She struck me as a very driven but conflicted woman who found it hard to enjoy what she had.