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Original poster

Blue Eyes - Green/Brown Parents

88 replies

mmmmchocolate · 01/02/2005 22:18

Hi, can anyone help me. My 5 month old DD has really lovely blue eyes, myself i have brown eyes and DF has green eyes.

I am forever getting people coming up to me and saying 'where ever does she get those blue eyes from'. Has anyone else had this or can advise me if they will change or if they should change!!??!?!

Thank you

OP posts:
tamum · 01/02/2005 22:47

Yup, fraid so Janh.

Original poster
mmmmchocolate · 01/02/2005 22:49

tamum, thats interesting. So basically you baby can have any colour eye regardless to what you and partner have?

OP posts:
tamum · 01/02/2005 22:52

Yes, you can do, certainly. In lots of families it follows a predictable pattern, and I would say that if a child's parents had brown eyes, and their parents had brown eyes, and their parents and so on it would be highly unlikely that the child would have blue eyes because the background genes just weren't there, if you see what I mean. Once you have various colours in a family, as you have, then all bets are off, basically!

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Davros · 01/02/2005 22:53

My 2 also have big blue eyes that people comment on. DH has greyish eyes and I have green eyes. Going back the first person in the family with blue eyes is DH's sister and his mother, so that is where they got them I assume. My parents both have brown eyes and both my sisters but I have green eyes, its all in there somewhere, not necessarily the next immediate generation or closest relative.

Original poster
mmmmchocolate · 01/02/2005 22:55

DF really shut up now. Wish i had done this sooner now i have an answer for all those nosy people who stop and say ' where those blue eyes from'. I hate interfering people...

OP posts:
tamum · 01/02/2005 22:56

You tell 'em!

Merlot · 01/02/2005 22:56

Interesting Tamum - I thought two blue eyed parents couldn't have a brown eyed child, but two brown eyed parents could have a blue eyed child - obviously was taught according to one of those old text books (shows my age)

lou33 · 01/02/2005 22:58

blows raspberry at mmmchocolate's dh...

tell them they wear fashion contacts

Original poster
mmmmchocolate · 01/02/2005 22:58

I will and if it wasn't so late i would start right now..... Looking forward to the next person to say it now bet no one will now for ages! Thank you tamum you have been most helpful. (its my first time on here and people are so nice, wish i had found it when i was pregant. So thanks again)

OP posts:
tamum · 01/02/2005 22:58

As you can see Merlot, you're not alone. I guess it was used in text books because it quite often follows those rules, and it's easy to understand, but it just isn't true (fly in the ointment)

Original poster
mmmmchocolate · 01/02/2005 23:00

df giggles lou33

OP posts:
JanH · 01/02/2005 23:00

Oooh, tamum, you are so clever

Obviously my textbooks were even older than Merlot's

Merlot · 01/02/2005 23:01

come to think of it, it wasnt just the text books which were old - the teacher was pretty decrepit too!!

tamum · 01/02/2005 23:02

Mwah!

sweetkitty · 01/02/2005 23:05

Also sometimes genes don't switch on so you could have a brown eye gene and still have blue eyes sometimes they only half switch on a friend of mine at uni had a half blue and brown eye (think David Bowie has one fo each to)

I used to love thinking about what colour eyes DD would have (DP's chocolate brown mine blue) she's got my eyes (although if she really has I'll be forking out for her laser eye surgery too)

JanH · 01/02/2005 23:07

Oh yes, I had a friend at school with odd eyes (which was what some kind people called her - "oi, odd-eyes!") - she had one brown and one bluey-hazel (I think).

tamum · 01/02/2005 23:08

Much as I love genetics, I feel I have to point out that David Bowie was shot in one eye, hence the different colours

sweetkitty · 01/02/2005 23:14

was he? I thought he was born like that.

See you learn something new every day

MamaMaiasaura · 01/02/2005 23:16

Hi Janh answer to question re can 2 blue eyed parents have a brown eyed child..? Nope. As if one parent was carrying the brown eyed gene to pass give it to child, they too would have brown eyes as it is the dominent gene. Learnt this as part of genetics in nurse training last year..

Funny thing is that my cousin has brown eyes and mummy and daddy have blue.. opps.

My mum didnt believe the genes thing till i showed her the text books!

Tinker · 01/02/2005 23:20

Awen - I think tamum has just said they can.

JanH · 01/02/2005 23:21

Hi, Awen! I think you might have to discuss this with tamum (or tamum might have to discuss it with your trainers )

Mothernature · 01/02/2005 23:28

dh blue eyed - both his parents blue eyed
me green eyed - both my parents blue eyed
ds1 blue
ds2 blue
dd green

CountessDracula · 01/02/2005 23:31

both my parents green
my bro and I blue

MamaMaiasaura · 01/02/2005 23:33

JUst read tatums comments Hi tatum, can you give me the reference for the evidence re merlots so i can pass it on to the genetics tutor at the uni?

According to Marieb E, Himan Anatomy & Physiology, 5th Edition blue eyed parents can not produce blue eyed children. It is to dont with the Alleles (gene pairs) basically each parent gives 23 chromosomes in a 'normal' fertilization. It discusses the dominant/recessive inheritence and uses the Punnett Square to explain it.

Interestingly normal number of digits, normal vision and non webbed digits are recessive genes!

JanH · 01/02/2005 23:38

Oh tell me about normal vision being recessive! I am blind as a bat (well used to be) and DH is practically 20/20 and yet all 4 kids are short-sighted! How does that square with survival of the fittest? Why didn't all the myopic ones fall down holes or get eaten by mammoths?

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