Expert: Dana Krempels, Ph.D. - 6/6/2007

Question
i wanted to know if you could help me try to figure out what color hair and eyes my baby will have
I have Green eyes and black hair my mother has brown hair green eyes and my dad has black hair green eyes
the father has dirty blonde hair and blue eyes his mother has dirty blonde hair and blue eyes and his dad has brown hair blue eyes.  
i know it might not be exact but its just something id thought id ask.

thank you!

Answer
Dear Allie,

Both hair color and eye color are controlled by more than one gene, and the more genes affecting a characteristic, the harder it is to predict what to expect in an offspring.

If both you and the father have pale eyes (blue; green; grey; etc.), then the baby will most likely have blue or green eyes, too, since those colors are recessive to brown.  But whether they will be blue or green is nearly impossible to predict, since there are several different genes that control the additional carotenoid pigments that make blue eyes into green eyes.

Dark hair is dominant to light hair, but if you have parents with light hair, you could have some light hair genes hiding that might combine with the father's light colored hair genes to give you a light-haired baby.  The most likely outcome will be a brown-haired child, but it's also possible that the baby will inherit your very dark hair.

Hope that helps.

Dana