Expert: Dana Krempels, Ph.D. - 8/7/2007

Question
Hi my husband are expecting our first child within a week so.The whole family is curious as to what color hair she is going to have.
I have brown hair,my mother has brown,my father had blonde hair when he was younger but it got darker-and his siblings had blonde to brown hair when they were younger but now is a little bit darker on them,my maternal mother and grandfather had brown hair,my paternal grandparents I think I had light brown hair.

My husband has pure red hair as does his mother.I think his father had blonde hair when he was younger-it is now white,his maternal grandmother has red hair and so do his aunts and uncles from maternal side,but I also know there are some blondes on his side as well.

As for eyes-I was brnwith blue/grey eys but they are now a hazel golden color and my husbands eyes are blue.

What color eyes and hair will my baby most likely have.We were told that she alread has hair on her head.

Thank you,
Jackie

Answer
Dear Jackie,

Since both hair and eye color are governed by several genes each, it is nearly impossible to accurately predict the coloring a baby will have unless both parents express all the recessive conditions (i.e., red hair; blue eyes).

There are two types of melanin in human hair, a brown pigment and a red pigment.  Different genes control the deposition of each type of pigment, and the degree of color can change as a person ages.

If you have no red hair pigment genes in your family, then you have the form of the gene that's dominant to the red hair form.  But if you have *any* red hair genes in the family, there's a chance that the baby will express some degree of reddish color in the hair, though s/he is not likely to have bright red hair if you don't have it.

My guess would be that your baby will have blonde hair at birth, possibly with a reddish tinge, and it will gradually darken with age.

Eye color is only slightly less straightforward.  Because both you and your husband have light-colored eyes, the baby will also have light-colored eyes (unless s/he has inherited a reversion mutation that would make them brown; rare, but not impossible).

Whether they eyes will be blue, hazel, green, grey or other shade of "light" eyes is anyone's guess.  Because you started out with blue eyes, and your husband has blue eyes, the baby will probably be born with blue eyes.  But if s/he later starts to express the other pigment genes that you carry (i.e., yellowish pigments overlying a blue iris to make the eye hazel or green), then they might become hazel or green as s/he gets older.

Whew!  It's confusing, and there are many possibilities!  But whatever the baby's coloring, I hope s/he is lovely and healthy. Good luck, and try to get some sleep now, because you won't be getting much in a few weeks!  :)

Take care,
Dana