Expert: Florence M Rollwagen - 6/13/2008

Question
ok i was just wondering what color hair my baby will have
me-brown
my mother-blonde
my father-brown

the father of my baby-brown
his mother-brownish red color
his father-i dont know

Answer
Hi Casey, thanks for your question.

Hair color is difficult to predict because there are multiple genes that code for color.  The pigment in hair is called melanin (or eumelanin).  The darker the color, the more melanin genes are turned on, lighter color, fewer genes.

Because your mother is blonde, you inherited some of her "melanin-off" genes (we don't know how many).  Your father gave you many "melanin-on" genes.

The baby's father also has many "melanin-on" genes because his hair is brown.  But his mother has brownish red (you didn't mention how dark this color), so there are some red genes included in the mix.  You don't know whether the father's father (grandfather) is blonde, red, blue or green, so we can't really guess.  

So here are the possible scenarios:

The baby inherits some blonde genes from you and red genes from the father (from his mother).  So the baby will have reddish blonde.

The baby inherits some brown genes from you and red genes from the father.  This will give reddish brown.

The baby inherits some brown genes from you and brown genes from the father.  So brown hair will result.

Last, the baby inherits some blonde genes from you and brown genes from the father, which will give light brown.

Does this cover all the possibilities?  Don't forget, this process is completely random, so there's no predicting for sure.

This probably is not new information for you.  I'm sure you thought of these variables already, so I'm confirming your guesses.

If you want certainty, don't look at hair color - too many variables!

FM Rollwagen, PhD