Search: Nmachi Ihegboro
Why: In Yahoo! UK & Ireland Year in Review Most Popular Odd Stories:
5. White baby born to black parents
All parents fear a mix-up in the maternity ward. But there was no mix-up for Angela and Ben Ihegbro. The black couple, from Woolwich in south London, were amazed when Angela, 35, gave birth to a blonde-haired, blue-eyed, white baby.Nmachi Ihegboro was born at Queen Mary’s Hospital in Sidcup, Kent. It’s not unheard-of for mixed-race couples of West Indian origin to have children of significantly different colour – because of white ancestry – but Angela and Ihegbro are of Nigerian origin, and are not aware of any mixed-race family history.
Furthermore, doctors insist that baby Nmachi is not an albino because she has pigmentation in her eyes and hair. Professor Brian Sykes, head of Human Genetics at Oxford University, believes the unusual condition is the result of an undocumented form of genetic mutation.
Nmachi’s, which means “beauty of God” in Nigerian, joins sisters Chisom, four, and Dunebi, two.
Angela Ihegbro told The Sun newspaper: “Nmachi’s colour doesn’t matter. She’s a miracle baby. But still, what on earth happened here?”
That was surely a question that popped into Ben’s head at the moment of birth. But he doesn’t suspect any wrongdoing. “Of course, she’s mine,” he told the newspaper, “my wife is true to me. Even if she hadn’t been, the baby still wouldn’t look like that.
Source: Google Images
The More You Know: There have been other recent stories about children of mixed couples coming out with a variety of skin colors. Below, Cornel and Carla Nurse with who they call their "Rainbow Children" - Jermaine, who looks, well, mixed; Tanisha, who looks "Afro-Caribbean"; and Jayden, who has blonde hair and blue eyes:
And in 2005, twins born to Kylie Hodgson and Remi Horder - both of whom have white mothers and black fathers - showed up looking like this. Kian is on the left and Remee is on the right:
Dean Durrant and Alison Spooner have had 2 sets of colorful twins: Hayleigh & Lauren in 2001 and Miya & Leah in 2008:
And these guys - Koen and Teun Stuart were born as twins, but they have different fathers:
When Wilma and Willem Stuart married in 1984, they assumed that having children would be the next big step. The couple tried unsuccessfully for six years before turning to invitro fertilization. Wilma learned in April 1993 that she was pregnant, and soon after found out that she was carrying twins. The boys were delivered by emergency C section in Dec of 1993.Oops!
It was three days before the Stuarts saw their twin boys side by side and noticed the differences in the way the boys looked. One was small and had light skinned, while the other was dark and much larger. It was at this point in time that the Stuarts began to ask questions, but were told by hospital staff that liver problems might be the reason for darker skin and that it would pass. But by the time the boys were six months old, the Stuarts began to question the paternity of their sons.
When the boys were just over a year old, DNA testing proved that little Koen was indeed fathered by someone other than Willem Stuart. The hospital where the invitro was performed has called the situation “a deeply regrettable mistake” and speculation is that a piece of equipment called a pipette ( like a large eyedropper), had been used twice, causing another man’s sperm to be mixed with Willem's.
