Is It True That All Babies Are Born With Blue Eyes?

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“Blue eyes shimmer with angel glances, like spring violets over the lea.”

– Constance Fenimore Woolson, Novelist

I think we can all agree that there is something about blue eyes. They hold a depth that other eye colors just can’t seem to match. And living, as we do, in a country full of mostly brown or black-eyed people, we can’t help but be fascinated by those rare possessors of the much-coveted blue eyes.

Some of us get so fascinated with blue eyes that we desperately pray that our babies are born with it. In fact, some people even go ahead and ask questions on Quora like ‘how do you make your baby have blue eyes?’

Sounds crazy, doesn’t it? While you ponder over that at the back of your mind, let me ask you a question: did you know that all babies are indeed born with blue eyes?

Yes! That includes your baby and also yourself when you happened to be a tiny tot.

It may sound puzzling, but admit it – you’ve heard this one before. As soon as you get pregnant, you realize just quite how strong the pregnancy rumor mill is. It’s always abuzz with one or the other crazy baby (or pregnancy) finding/news/trivia that you just have to know about. Well, of all the things you’ve heard from your friends, mother and grandma to the wise old kaamwali bai – babies being born with blue eyes just might be true.

But How Is That Possible? My Partner And I Have Brown Eyes!

Well, it’s still possible. Though not always, and perhaps especially not in the case of us Indians, but it’s still possible.

Let us explain.

Most babies are born with the natural pigment ‘melanin’ (the one that is responsible for your skin and hair color) in the amount that they are meant to have. However, in some cases, this might not be true. Although blue eyes are rare, and only 1 in every 6 Caucasian American has a pair of that shade (for Indians, this number might be way lower), the fact is that most of them are still born with it (1).

What you must understand is that not all babies are born with the melanin amount they are supposed to, which is the reason why they have a lighter eye color during infancy. Nevertheless, as time passes by and the baby grows older, this color gradually darkens due to an increased production of melanin in the child. Which means that your baby’s eye color can change from blue to brown, hazel or green (2).

Dr. Norman Saffra, chairman of the Department of Ophthalmology at a New York medical center in Brooklyn, explains further saying that a child’s eye color is mostly dependent on the amount of melanin they are born with. He says that if the melanin increases, the eye color will darken; if it doesn’t, it will remain blue.

That said, only a very small amount of melanin at birth will give rise to blue irises in a newborn. A medium amount will give rise to hazel or green eyes and lots of it will produce brown eyes.

But melanin production is not the only thing that determines a baby’s eye color. The race and ethnicity – in short, the genetic make-up of the child, also plays a major role. This means that children who are born to Asian, African-American or Hispanic parents are bound to have eyes of a darker hue (3). Although this can also be attributed to the fact that people of these races naturally produce more melanin than the Caucasoid race.

So before you jump the gun and get all excited that your baby may be born with blue eyes, remember that there is still plenty of time for you to know for sure!

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