Imagine the surprise on Kylie Hodgson’s face when the midwife during her caesarean section showed her two beautiful baby girls – of different races. Both Kylie and her husband have mixed-race parents, meaning that one girl inherited all-white genes and the other all-black genes, an occurrence with odds of approximately a million to one. Link [Daily Mail]
Anita
I didn’t believe this one at first … but Snopes verifies it’s true. This just seems to give more ammo to those mother’s on Maury who say to their white husbands “Just because it’s a black baby doesn’t mean it’s not yours!”
Aramax
You can’t say that they’re of different races. The human race is the only human race there is.
It’s just skin pigmentation.
Jake
Finally! A pair of twins where it’s easy to remember which one’s which.
Denita TwoDragons
They’re absolutely beautiful! And the funny thing is, they both look identical besides their actual coloration.
It still puzzles me, how something as trivial as melanin has caused human beings to hate each other so much.
–TwoDragons
biltmore
-TwoDragons …. it’s not melanin to blame, it’s ignorance. But I feel what you’re getting at. Ignorance is one of the biggest (if not # 1) problems in the world.
suzette
the facial expression on the dad is like “fuck these pictures ima go smoke sum weed”
Marc
What a stupid comment. Maybe that’s just the way he looks. Maybe he just doesn’t like having his picture taken or he just worked a night shift? And why do assume he talks like that? He’s English.
Kerozene
I bet that wife was reeeeaaaalllly relieved when they did a paternity test.
Pwhew… close call, almost got caught on that one.
uncooper
“all-white genes”?! do people still think that such a thing exists in 2007? i love this site, but this post is ill-informed, poorly worded, and irresponsible.
Anita
Uncooper – those words were from scientists and have been quoted by the Daily Mail and many other news outlets. Maybe it would be better to say “genes that solely express light skinned traits”?
How else would you describe it?
Rob
I also don’t really understand uncooper’s concern. Maybe that most people have mixed race ancestry of some sort? True, but our features are most influenced by our immediate parents and then with decreasing influence over preceding generations.
Storm
Always a few people who need to put others down in order to signal that they themselves are ok. So in order to let everyone know that they themselves aren’t racist, they need to call others that, either directly or by policing their language. People have a need to use public forums for that. They need a Rickie Lake show or a Neatorama where they can stand up from their audience seat and say profound things like “You can’t say that they’re of different races. The human race is the only human race there is.”
Anyway… there have been quite a few cases like this one. They pop up in the tabloids every few years and people are awe-struck yet again since they don’t remember that they have seen this kind of thing before. It’s not common with this much of a difference in appearance, but it’s perfectly reasonable. It’s a gene lottery after all.
Anthony Cerminaro
Regarding the myth of all-white genes, please see http://www.pbs.org/race/000_General/000_00-Home.htm, the PBS series titled RACE: The Power of An Illusion which states in part:
“Humans cannot be subdivided into races…There isn’t a single characteristic, trait – or even one gene – that can be used to distinguish all members of one race from all members of another…
Modern humans – all of us – emerged in Africa about 150,000 to 200,000 years ago. Bands of humans began migrating out of Africa only about 70,000 years ago. As we spread across the globe, populations continually bumped into one another and mixed their mates and genes. As a species, we’re simply too young and too intermixed to have evolved into separate races or subspecies.
So what about the obvious physical differences we see between people? A closer look helps us understand patterns of human variation:
…most traits – whether skin color, hair texture or blood group – are influenced by separate genes and thus inherited independently one from the other. Having one trait does not necessarily imply the existence of others. Racial profiling is as inaccurate on the genetic level as it is on the New Jersey Turnpike…
Certainly a few gene forms are more common in some populations than others, such as those controlling skin color…but are these markers of “race?” They reflect ancestry, but…that’s not the same thing as race…”
Emmers
Why are you guys getting all in a huff about this? All it means is, one baby inherited genes from the parents’ black parents, and one baby inherited genes from the parents’ white parents.
*sigh*
Well, I thought it was cool.
Daphne
Ok, these babies are soooo beautiful!! They do look so much alike, I believe they are identical. But is it me or do they not look like their parents?
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Lasse
Jimbo
