Research question

[eleneariel]

It's vital to know for my nanowrimo novel whether all babies are born with blue eyes or not. A child who will grow up to have very dark brown eyes, would they still be blue at birth? And if so how soon would they change?

I love having knowledgable friends.

Comments

[melyndie.livejournal.com]

I'm almost positive that children with dark eyes later in life are not born with blue eyes. I don't think any of us kids were born with blue eyes. ::trots off to ask Mother::

Nope, none of us were born with blue eyes. We all have medium to dark brown eyes now (and then).

[eattheolives.livejournal.com]

This is good. I wanted to be able to have a dark-eyed baby from the start...

[melyndie.livejournal.com]

And so you can. :-) Mom said the color of eyes we were born with were pretty much the shade we ended up with.

[clothofdreams.livejournal.com]

Many caucasian babies are born with blue eyes, but not all. In my family, only Matthew was born with blue eyes-- the rest of us had dark eyes. Chances are, if a baby has any ethnic blood (we have American Indian ancestors, for instance), she will have dark eyes when she is born.

[eattheolives.livejournal.com]

So a hispanic father/white mother could produce a baby born with dark eyes?

Gosh, but this is facinating to dwell upon.

Her name's Grace-Ayn, btw. I'm so happy to finally have a name for her.

[clothofdreams.livejournal.com]

Correct. I understand that dark coloring is (generally) genetically dominant, so the baby would most likely have dark eyes.

[ransomedsea.livejournal.com]

It's entirely based on genes and won't change. Once the baby is formed, the eye color is what it will always be (unless some strange mutation or something occurs). So, babies can be born with any eye color.

Now, two dark-eyed parents can produce a blue-eyed child, if they both have a recessive gene for it that will appear. So it's not based on the parents' eye color as much as what traits they are carrying and which pass on. Does that make sense?

[ransomedsea.livejournal.com]

Wait, sorry, you're talking about newborns and the lack of pigment. It's still genes, but the pigment may not be completely formed in some newborns and in others it will.

I need to read things more thoroughly. :P

[eattheolives.livejournal.com]

Oh, don't worry. =) I'm interested in all aspects.

[morthnconqueror.livejournal.com]

My brother and sister and I all had brown eyes at birth, and still do.

[eattheolives.livejournal.com]

First-hand evidence is just what I needed. Thanks!