redwellies (51)
in
#parenting
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6 years ago
(edited)
When I was pregnant with Freyja, we'd often talk about who we thought she would look like, what color hair she'd have and what color her eyes would be.
Of course, hubby, thought that she'd have green eyes like him and our eldest daughter, I rather wanted her to have brown or I guess hazel eyes like me and our eldest son. With our 2 older daughters having blue & green eyes, brown would be good to add to the mix :)
All this got me thinking that there had to be an algorithm to predict this.
And there are many calculators on the web that do just that. They are all pretty much the same and take into consideration the eye color of the parents and then spits out a prediction of baby's eye color based on that.
Most newborns born to Caucasian parents have blue eyes at birth, and those born to Asian or African parents, have brown or dark grey. The final eye color will be determined over time with exposure to light which causes the melanin to activate and start the change to their final eye color based on the genes inherited from their parents.
This change normally begins around 6 months and has finished by the age of 3.
SourceBut how is their final eye color determined? Simply put, it depends on the paring of the parent genes. These genes can mutate into 3 "alleles", brown, green and blue.
Brown is dominant over green and blue; green is dominant over blue and blue is recessive.
Therefore, your baby's eye color depends on whether they inherit dominant or recessive genes from you.
And as each parent carries 2 genes for eye color, it's also dependent on whether the genes the parents carry are hom*ozygous (both brown) or heterozygous (1 brown, 1 non-brown) and as this is impossible to tell by looking at someone's eyes, the calculators work off the dominant & recessive color genes.
Take Freyja for example. I have brown eyes; her father has green eyes, therefore the chances of her having blue eyes are very slim, as both brown and green eyes are dominant over blue. And as brown is dominant over green, she has a higher chance of having brown eyes.
She has 50% chance of brown, 37.5% green and 12.5% blue.
SourceWhen Freyja was born she had blue/grey eyes much like her brother when he was born, which leads me to believe that she will have brown eyes like him. However, they did start to look green and almost exactly like her dads…
Today, I think they look brown close to the iris and then grey towards the outer edge… as she's only 16 weeks old, we have a while to wait to see what color they end up being… so for now she has chameleon eyes, but if I had to place a wager, I'd say brown…
"Mum why are you pointing that that thing in my face!?!"Even though we use 3 eye colors when calculating here, there are, 6.
SourceBlue eyes have a low level of pigment in the iris and are becoming rarer and rarer and in a recent study, researchers found that everyone in the world that has blue eyes are related!
Over half the people in the world have brown eyes, making them the most common. Brown eyes have the most melanin present.
Grey eyes may look like blue but may have flecks of gold or brown and appear to change colors based on lighting, clothing and mood.
Green eyes are the rarest and are found more frequently in northern and central Europe.
Hazel eyes like grey, appear to change color and are a combination of brown and green.
Red eyes aren't really red, but because there is so little melanin or color in the iris, you are actually seeing the blood vessels behind the iris.
No matter what color eyes your baby has, there's nothing that melts your heart quicker than looking in them and having them smile and coo back at you :)
What color eyes do your children have? Would it have been accurate to predict based on the color of the parent's eyes? Would love to know in the comments.
Original content by @redwellies
FAQs
Simply put, it depends on the paring of the parent genes. These genes can mutate into 3 "alleles", brown, green and blue. Brown is dominant over green and blue; green is dominant over blue and blue is recessive. Therefore, your baby's eye color depends on whether they inherit dominant or recessive genes from you.
How to predict baby's eye color? ›
Two blue-eyed parents are very likely to have a blue-eyed child, but it won't happen every single time. Two brown-eyed parents are likely (but not guaranteed) to have a child with brown eyes. If you notice one of the grandparents has blue eyes, the chances of having a blue-eyed baby go up a bit.
How will I know the color of my baby's eyes? ›
If you and your partner both have brown eyes, your baby is likely to have brown eyes. If one of your baby's grandparents has blue eyes, your baby's chances of having blue eyes are higher. If you have blue eyes and your partner has brown eyes, or vice versa, your baby's odds are about even for either eye color.
How can eye color be predicted? ›
Forensic DNA phenotyping works by analyzing specific genes that are known to be involved in eye color determination. By looking at variations in these genes, scientists can predict the likelihood of a person having certain eye colors.
How to do a Punnett square for eye color? ›
A Punnett square can be made for eye color by drawing a chart with 2 columns and 2 rows. On top of the columns, list the father's alleles (genotype) for eye color. Along the left side of the rows, list the mother's alleles for eye color.
Can you tell if baby will have blue or brown eyes? ›
The most dramatic eye color changes will probably occur when your child is between the ages of 3 and 6 months old. By that point, the iris has stashed enough pigment so you'll be able to better predict what the final hue will be. But even so, your baby's eye color may still hold some surprises.
Do babies get their eye color from mom or dad? ›
While a baby inherits half of their eye color genetics from one parent and half from the other parent, the way that the multiple genes interact also plays a role in determining eye color.
What's the earliest you can tell a baby's eye color? ›
As more melanin develops, the eyes can darken to green, hazel, or brown. Predicting when your child's eyes will stop changing color can vary. “The range of time when a baby will develop their 'true' eye color varies, but it usually happens between six and nine months of age,” Dr.
What color eyes do newborns start with? ›
Newborn iris color at birth is brown in 63.0% (121/192) of infants, blue in 20.8% (40/192) of infants, green/hazel in 5.7% (11/192) of infants, indeterminate in 9.9% (19/192) of infants and partially heterochromic in 0.5% (1/192) of infants.
What eye color is dominant? ›
10 Brown eye color is a dominant trait and blue eye color is a recessive trait. Green eye color is a mix of both. Green is recessive to brown but dominant to blue. Other genes that help determine eye, skin, and hair color include the genes ASIP, IRF4, SLC24A4, SLC24A5, SLC45A2, TPCN2, TYR, and TYRP1.
Eye Color Check: Discover, Measure, and Share Your Eye Color
This utility and tools app allows users to discover, measure, and share their unique and iconic eye colors and shades. It provides a fun and easy way to determine the percentages of each color or shade in your eyes.
Which parent chooses eye color? ›
Factors That Influence Eye Color Inheritance
The eye color of both parents can impact the likelihood of specific eye colors in their offspring. For example, if both parents have brown eyes, it is more likely that their child will also have brown eyes. Ethnicity can also influence eye color inheritance.
Which parent determines hair color? ›
While dark-haired parents tend to have dark-haired kids, hair color genetics is quite complex. Your hair color depends in part on how many genetic variants you inherit from both of your parents. If you have brown hair, your shade of brown depends on how many light and dark markers you inherit from your mom and dad.
What is the rarest eye color? ›
Of those four, green is the rarest. It shows up in about 9% of Americans but only 2% of the world's population. Hazel/amber is the next rarest color after green. Blue is the second most common and brown tops the list, found in 45% of the U.S. population and possibly almost 80% worldwide.
Do grandparents' eye colors affect babies? ›
Predicting Eye Color
For example if both paternal grandparents have brown eyes and father also have brown eyes, there is higher chance of father being hom*ozygous for brown color gene and in that case offsprings will be “almost” always brown eyed.
Does a single gene predict eye color? ›
Although there are about 16 different genes responsible for eye color, it is mostly attributed to two adjacent genes on chromosome 15, hect domain and RCC1-like domain-containing protein 2 (HERC2) and ocular albinism (that is, oculocutaneous albinism II (OCA2)).
What if mom has brown eyes and dad has blue eyes? ›
If one parent has brown eyes and one has blue, the child could have either one. If the parent with brown eyes has brown-eyed parents, the child will likely have brown. However, if the parent with brown eyes has a blue-eyed parent, you could have a blue-eyed baby.
Are hazel eyes considered green or brown? ›
While all hazel eyes will have a combination of green and brown colors, the difference in dominant colors is why hazel eyes can appear either mostly green or mostly brown. This variety in color can cause some confusion, but as long as there is a mixture of green and brown in the iris, the eyes are hazel.
Can two blue-eyed parents have a hazel-eyed child? ›
Yes, blue-eyed parents can definitely have a child with brown eyes. Or green or hazel eyes for that matter. If you stayed awake during high school biology, you might find this answer surprising. We were all taught that parents with blue eyes have kids with blue eyes.
