The birth of a child is the most wonderful moment in the life of every woman. Even at the stage of pregnancy, expectant mothers begin to ask questions about what gender the baby will be, who he will look like, and what color his eyes will be. This article will tell you what eye color newborns have and when it begins to change.
Special pigment
Most babies are born with the same cloudy, blue-gray eyes. Sometimes the irises have a dark tint - this means that the baby will have brown or black ones. A special pigment, melanin, is responsible for the shade; it is responsible for what color the eyes of newborns will be when they are born. While the baby is in the womb, this substance is almost not produced; only a few days after birth, melanocytes begin to actively grow and accumulate in the iris. Within a month, the color of the newborn’s eyes becomes brighter and clearer, the cloudiness disappears, but the shade remains the same. The color shade of a child is not always the same as that of its parents. This leads to questions from young mothers about whether the eye color of newborns changes.
Heredity
At birth, a baby inherits the genes of both parents, but they can change under the influence of the child’s developmental characteristics. It is heredity and individuality small organism are responsible for when the eye color of a newborn changes. Typically, changes in the color of the iris begin after a few months and can last for several years. Of course, the shade will form earlier, the changes will only affect its intensity. But even doctors cannot say exactly when the eye color of newborns changes, in how many months or years this will happen.
Who is stronger
The birth of a person is a miracle and a still unsolved mystery for scientists. No one can know in advance whose set of genes will be stronger. Part of the mystery is revealed by Mendel's law, based on the division of genes into recessive and dominant. Speaking in simple language, dark color stronger in genetics than light. So, for example, parents with dark eyes have a high chance of getting their own little dark-eyed copy. Moms and dads with light eyes most often give birth to a light-eyed baby. If the shade of the iris differs between the parents, then the color of the newborn’s eyes will be dark - dominant, or intermediate. But this is only in theory; in practice, everything is a little more complicated. Even great scientific minds cannot predict the characteristics of the future baby.
Percentage
Based on the law described above, modern geneticists have calculated the percentage of babies born with a particular eye color. The pattern looks like this:
- If both parents have a blue tint to the iris, then there is a 99% chance that a blue-eyed baby will be born, but there is a 1% chance that the newborn’s eye color will be green.
- Surprisingly, brown-eyed moms and dads can have a child with any iris color. The approximate ratio looks like this: brown - 75%, green - 18%, and blue - 7%.
- If the father and mother are green-eyed, then the color of the baby’s iris may be as follows: green - 75%, blue - 24%, brown - 1%.
- If one of the parents has blue eyes and the other has green eyes, then the probability of the baby inheriting the color of the iris is the same; it can be equally the same as the mother’s and the same as the father’s.
- If one of the parents is brown-eyed and the other is green-eyed, the child’s iris color may be as follows: brown - 50%, green - 37%, blue - 13%.
- Parents with brown and blue eyes equal chances of getting a blue-eyed or brown-eyed baby from a stork.
Genetic features
Most often, eye color is passed on to the child from the parents. But there are situations when the shade is fundamentally different from mom and dad’s, and they begin to sound the alarm. You should not run to the clinic for a DNA test, because dominant genes can appear even after several generations. So, for example, it may turn out that the great-grandmother on the father's side was a burning brunette with brown eyes, but everyone forgot about it after so many years. Genes can be passed on from grandparents, especially dominant ones. Dark-eyed people are the most numerous on earth. Their iris contains a large amount of pigment. If a child with blue or green eyes has even small dark inclusions, then the shade of the iris can subsequently change greatly.
Only recently it became known that blue eye color is a mutation of the human genome that occurred about 6,000 years ago. This happened on the territory of modern Eurasia, so most light-eyed people are born here. There are exceptions to many rules. In addition to inconsistencies with genetic calculations, there are more interesting cases. For example, heterochromia or albinism. These are genetic characteristics of the body that are inherited or acquired.
Heterochromia
With heterochromia, a person has different eye colors. This anomaly is associated with unequal coloring of the irises. Most often it is inherited, but it can also be acquired. This pathology occurs for medical reasons when the iris is damaged. It can be chronic diseases eyes or a trapped metal fragment. Genetic heterochromia manifests itself in several forms: complete, sector or central. When full, each iris has its own color, the most common type being brown/blue. With the sector form of heterochromia, one eye has many different shades, and with the central one, the iris has several colored rings.
Albinism
It's rare hereditary disease, in which the body practically does not produce pigment. A pathological gene affects the production of melanin, hence the lack of coloring pigment in the skin, hair and iris. newborns with this genetic trait are bright scarlet. Subsequently, it becomes light blue or whitish. With ocular albinism, there is a lack of pigment only in the iris; the hair and skin of such people are of a normal color. Parents who have albinos in their family are at risk. This pathological gene can manifest itself even after many years.
Features of vision in infants
The eye color of a newborn is not constant. It changes, and with it vision itself. When the baby was in his mother’s belly, he didn’t need to see. After birth, gradual adaptation begins to occur, because there are so many interesting things around! During the first month, the baby's eyes get used to daylight, and the cloudy layer that served as a kind of protection disappears. Visual acuity comes gradually. At two months, the child can already focus his gaze. Along with vision, the brain also develops. The baby begins to process incoming information. He learns to connect objects, sounds, smells and touches, all the images that surround him. As a child approaches one year of age, a child’s vision is not at all the same as that of an adult. Further development helps the baby remember visual images, helps assess the distance to an object, colors become brighter and more saturated. By the age of 3, farsightedness, which has been characteristic of them since birth, disappears in infants. The child is growing eyeballs, development of eye muscles and optic nerve. The visual organs are finally formed only by the age of 7 years.
The greatest happiness
It doesn’t matter what color the newborn’s eyes will be or who he will look like. Don't be afraid of his small, slightly cloudy eyes, helpless screams or ridiculous movements of his arms and legs. The baby discovers the world, and you discover it! After all, he may have his mother’s nose, and his father’s ears, hair the same as his older sister’s, and lips like his beloved granny’s. Soon your vision will become clear. Seeing you, the baby will smile broadly and consciously stretch out his tiny palms to you. At this moment, it will not matter at all what color the baby’s eyes are, because they are the most beautiful in the world!
Who will the baby look like? frequently asked question, which begins to interest parents long before the child is born. Eye color plays a role in this significant role: it is worth changing the shade of the iris, and appearance faces also change dramatically. But the difficulty is that all children are born with blue eyes of a special, light shade. It’s not for nothing that this color of the iris in babies is called milky - indeed, it persists until the baby is breastfeeding, although these two factors have no connection with each other, we are talking exclusively about the time period.
By about one year, the color of the iris changes noticeably, and by two years, the color of the child’s eyes is established, which will remain until old age. Today it is possible to determine with fairly high reliability what kind of eyes an unborn child will have. Approximate dates have also been established for when the eye color of newborns changes. But parents must understand: it is impossible to predict nature, the formation and development of each baby takes place individually, and to do it one hundred percent accurate forecast no geneticist can determine the color of the iris of an unborn baby.
For information: parents should understand that newborns in the first days and weeks of their lives look a little different than they will look in the future. The baby must adapt to new environment, only after this can you judge who he looks like and what his eyes will be like.
What affects the color of the iris in humans?
It is known that the color of the iris of a person’s eyes is determined by the amount of melanin pigment. The more pigment, the darker the iris will be. In a newly born baby, the amount of melanin produced is negligible, often none at all, which is why the color of the iris is so light. But by six months the situation begins to change. Children's body develops as rapidly as it will never happen again in life. All metabolic processes proceed very quickly, the production of melanin pigment also becomes several times more intense. This can be noticed by the change in the child’s skin tone, hair color and eye color too. The more pigment accumulates in the cells, the darker the resulting shade.
Genetic heredity is the main factor influencing the color of the iris of the offspring's eyes
Maximum melanin production occurs around two to three years of a child’s life. Until what age the eyes remain blue depends on the intensity of pigment production; this is individual for each child. The dominant genetic factor plays a major role hereditary factor. IN in this case This is the brown eye color of one of the parents. This is where Mendel's law comes into play:
- Blue eyes of mom and dad give the same result - the child will be light-eyed.
- Dark eyes Parents provide brown or black eyes for the child.
- If one parent has brown or black eyes, and the other has gray or green eyes, then most likely the baby will be dark-eyed after two years. But can also get an intermediate eye shade - for example, green, hazel or honey.
Since the dark pigment is dominant, there are more brown-eyed people on the globe than light-eyed people
What else affects the shade of the iris? This is not only heredity, but also race. It is almost impossible to find blue eyes in purebred Asians or Africans. And, even if a representative of one of these races enters into an alliance with a European, their children are likely to be dark-skinned and dark-eyed. On the other hand, Europeans, especially residents of northern countries, in most cases give birth to light-eyed children, even albinos.
Melanin production is not the same in different periods life. Under influence various factors Melanin can be produced more intensely or weaker. Some diseases side effects certain medicines, intoxication chemicals, hormonal fluctuations and even stress - all these factors affect the production of the pigment responsible for the color of the iris. Towards old age, when everything natural processes in the body slow down, melanin production also decreases. The eyes do not fundamentally change their shade, but become lighter and duller, as if their color has faded. This is a completely natural, natural phenomenon.
Note: the color of a person’s iris can change in mature age under the influence of various factors. Lighting, colors in clothes, makeup and even emotional condition affect the shade of the iris. For example, in a moment of strong fear or anger, a person’s pupils narrow and the iris appears lighter. But this is a temporary phenomenon. If you change the lighting, wear clothes of a different shade, your eyes will appear darker. And sometimes gray eyes turn blue or green.
How to find out which eyes your baby will be born with
You can find out the eye color of the unborn child by comparing the physiological data of the mother and father. If both parents have a light iris color - gray, blue, aquamarine - the likelihood that the child's eyes will change and become dark is close to zero. Most often, they remain blue, like their parents, which is described in more detail in the works of Mendel, as discussed above.
A specialist can tell you more precisely what eye color a child will be born with; you need to contact a geneticist. To independently determine at least approximately the color of the eyes of the unborn child, you can be guided by the following data obtained on the basis medical practice:
- If mom and dad are blue, gray, blue eyes, 99% that the baby will also have light-colored eyes, and only 1% that he will grow up with dark eyes.
- If the irises of both parents are brown or black, then there is a 75% chance that the child will also have brown eyes, 18% will have green eyes, and only 7% will have blue eyes.
- If both parents are green-eyed, then in 75% of cases their children are born with eyes of the same shade, in 24% with blue or gray eyes, and only in 1% with brown eyes.
- If mom, for example, has green eyes, and dad has blue eyes, then the child will either have green eyes or blue eyes.
- If one parent has a green iris, and the other has a brown one, then in 50% of cases the baby is born brown-eyed, in 37% - green-eyed, in 13% - blue-eyed.
Of course, this is not 100% accurate data and you should never rely on it completely. Sometimes, contrary to all the theories about blue-eyed parents, a black-eyed child is born, and there is no scam about true paternity here.
Using the table, you can preliminarily determine what eye color your child is likely to have.
For information: studies have shown that there are more brown-eyed people on the globe than blue-eyed people. This is due to the fact that brown eyes are the dominant hereditary trait. Most rare color the eye is transparent aquamarine, violet and reddish (found in albinos with complete absence pigment, the red tint occurs due to the transillumination of blood vessels through the transparent iris).
How the shade of the iris changes in children
Parents who closely monitor the development of their baby are always interested in how many months the eye color will change. The intensity of melanin production plays a role here. Some babies' eyes take on their final shade by 10-12 months. Others have them for a long time remain transparent blue, and only by the age of three or four years, unexpectedly for the parents, the iris begins to darken. But usually a simple rule works: if by 6 months the shade remains light, without inclusions, most likely it will not change over the years. And, conversely, if reddish, brownish impurities are detected by six months, the eyes will turn brown over time. And only by the age of one year is the shade of the iris that will remain until the end of life fully revealed.
The eyes of albino children often appear blind and cause concern for parents, but in fact albinism does not affect visual acuity in any way.
Some parents believe that it is too light eyes the baby has a sign poor eyesight. Therefore, they begin to worry and constantly contact an ophthalmologist with the question of how long it will take for the eyes to finally darken and whether there is a threat to the child’s health. Eye color does not affect visual acuity in any way. Even albinos with transparent eyes see perfectly - this has been proven by numerous studies.
Infrequently, but it still happens to observe such a phenomenon as heterochromia in children. What it is? With heterochromia, one eye of a child is significantly different in color from the other. This phenomenon is caused by uneven production of melanin: either too much or too little. According to research, heterochromia occurs in 1% of the world's population. This feature is not a pathology and does not affect the quality of vision, but it is inherited.
There is also partial heterochromia, in which the pigment is distributed unevenly on the iris of one eye. This color looks very interesting, areas of dark pigment alternate with light ones. But at the same time, partial heterochromia can be a symptom of developing cataracts. People with such eyes should definitely undergo a routine examination by an ophthalmologist every six months.
Heterochromia occurs in only 1% of the world's population and does not indicate magical abilities its owner, but only to the uneven production of melanin pigment
Summary: In all newborn children, with the exception of the Negroid and Asian races, at birth the iris of the eyes has a characteristic light blue tint, which is explained by a low amount of melanin pigment. By the month the color becomes darker; by six months, splashes of yellow, green and hazel may appear in the iris if the eyes change color. By the age of one and a half years, the shade of the eyes is completely determined: if no changes occur in a person’s metabolism that affect the production of the melanin pigment, the shade of the iris will remain unchanged until old age. The determining factors are genetic inheritance and race. In rare cases, the child's eyes remain colorless with a red tint or take on different colors. Albinism and heterochromia do not affect visual acuity, so there is no reason to worry.
Newborn children have same color eyes regardless of the eye color of the parents, but with age the color may change. Why this happens and when eye color changes in children, we will find out in this article.
Causes
The eye color of newborns of any gender and nationality is the same - gray-blue with a cloudy tint and varying brightness. It is the absence of melanin that gives the cloudiness. But during the first years of life, eye color will change due to melanin staining the iris. When a child is just born, he has little of this pigment in his body, and with age it accumulates and colors the iris.
When children's eyes turn a permanent color and how much melanin is formed is determined by nature, and nothing can influence this except heredity and. Sometimes cases occur that over the course of a year, children’s eyes can change color not once, not twice, but several times.
Since eyes change only towards darkening, do not expect a dark-eyed child to have blue eyes. Conversely, a blue-eyed child may become brown-eyed over time. Eye color in newborns depends only on the amount of melanin: the more there is, the darker the eyes will be. That is, a baby with a high content of melanin will have brown eyes, and a child with a low content will have blue or green eyes. How much melanin is released is determined by the eye color of the parents and is inherited genetically.
Except age-related changes, a baby's eyes change depending on his mood:
- When a baby cries, the color becomes purer and changes towards green.
- In normal calm state the color remains bluish.
- When hungry, the color darkens.
- When sleeping, the color changes again to cloudy.
Features of the changes
The first year may already be marked by the fact that there will be a change in the color of the iris, but most often the final date for the establishment of color is considered to be the mark of 3 or If the child is brown-eyed, then his eyes will acquire a constant shade.
For others, the most noticeable transition will be between six months and 9 months, since at this time melanin has already accumulated in sufficient quantities to change the color of the babies' eyes. The transition of shade is more visible in light-eyed babies: they can turn from blue-eyed to green-eyed. If the eyes are dark blue, then they are more likely to turn brown or remain the same. First, dark inclusions are visible on the iris, and then it gradually becomes a different color.
Interesting facts about the eye color of a newborn include the following statements:
- Until the age of 4, eye color changes; after this, this is also possible, but rare.
- Eyes can only darken, but not lighten, since the process of melanin production is aimed at darkening the color.
- The child may get eyes of different colors. This phenomenon is called heterochromia and is associated with unevenly distributed melanin in the eyes. Even less common is heterochromia of one eye, when one eye can have 2 or several shades, most often of the same primary color, but some of them will be brighter, and the other part will be paler. The reasons for the occurrence are genetic predisposition or disease, so to determine the cause, it is better to constantly visit an ophthalmologist to monitor the condition.
- Albinos will have red eyes - people with reduced content melanin or its absence at all, and excess melanin will lead to the formation of black color.
- Up to 3 months, the child does not distinguish objects - everything in front of him seems to pass in a veil, and he reacts only to color. After this age, vision begins to stabilize and the gaze becomes fixed on an object. At six months a child can distinguish figures, and only at one year does vision adapt and bring it closer to maximum natural conditions. By this time, the formation of melanin ends.
So, eye color changes in about a year, and for some, the process is formed before the age of 3. Therefore, if you want to know what color your baby's eyes will be and when they will change, be patient or calculate the probability using the table of the relationship between the eye color of a newborn and the eye color of the parents.
With the birth of a child, many people wonder what the baby is like. Everyone peers at the baby’s facial features, trying to catch his resemblance to someone else. Most new parents do not know when changes occur in a newborn and what causes it. It is necessary to take into account the fact that the child does not look exactly as many previously imagined. It takes some time for the baby to get used to environment and began to look familiar.
The structure of the organs of vision
A newborn baby may have an irregularly shaped head, an elongated body and a protruding tummy. It happens that babies also leak fluid. Such processes are quite normal for both girls and boys. But after a few days after birth, everything returns to normal. Even the nose may be a little upturned at first, but after a while it acquires its own permanent form. But most people are interested in the question of when the eye color of a newborn changes. Why is this happening? The structure and structure of the visual organs of a newborn, as in adults. This is a kind of camera that includes They serve as conductors of information to those parts human brain who perceive and analyze what he sees. The eye itself is divided into a “lens” (the cornea and lens) and a “film” (the retina). Although babies have the same organs of vision as adults, at first they still do not see very well.
As a child grows, his perception process also improves. U one year old baby reaches half the norm for an adult. In the first week of life, the baby should only respond to light. On the second - fix your gaze on some object for several seconds. In the second month, this reaction should be more persistent. At six months, the baby can already distinguish simple figures, and at one year, he can recognize certain patterns.
When does a newborn's eye color change?
Eye color changes in newborns different time. This process is directly related to the production of melanin. This is a pigment of the organs of vision. If you look closely at the color of the eyes of newborns, you will notice that most of them are blue. And only by the age of two or three do they acquire their final color. This is the time when melanin appears. It is for this reason that light eyes can turn into green, gray and even brown. The darker the color, the more of this pigment has accumulated. This process is directly related to heredity.
Research shows that there are many more brown-eyed people on Earth than light-eyed people. This is due to the genetic dominance of traits. Therefore, if one of the parents is brown-eyed, then when the color of the newborn’s eyes changes, it most often turns out to be brown.
Features of light-eyed people
People who have light eyes are subject to frequent changes in their color. This may depend on the brightness of the lighting, clothing and their surroundings. Even stressful situation or illness may affect their color. Now we know when the eye color of a newborn changes. For some this moment is very important, but for others it does not play any role. In fact, the main thing is that the baby grows up healthy!
Many parents are interested in when and why the eye color of newborns changes. Even if in the first days and months after birth the baby’s iris was a bright blue or dark purple hue, over time it begins to acquire a more traditional brown, green or grey colour. The process of formation of this indicator at the genetic level raises no less questions.
Experts have even compiled a table, thanks to which it is possible to determine the probability of what the baby’s eye color will be, taking into account the data of his parents. Despite the successes of scientists in this field, you need to understand that in fact, not a single geneticist can say with 100% certainty what color the eyes of a newborn will be.
What eye color are babies born with and why?
Most children are born with blue, indigo or violet eyes of various shades. This development of events is typical for 90% of cases. It is extremely rare to observe dark eye color in a child, even if it is present in both his parents. Such an amazing phenomenon can be explained quite simply. A special pigment, melanin, is responsible for the formation of color. But it can only be produced under the influence of light, which is not present in the mother’s womb.
When a baby is born and begins to open its eyes, the process of melanocyte production begins. The number of these cells is determined by the genetic predisposition of children. It is against this background that babies’ eyes change color, acquiring one or another color of a certain degree of severity.
Advice: Only nature decides what eye color to give a child. You shouldn't believe in different traditional methods, calculations of ovulation days and signs claiming that there is a way to activate the desired gene. There is also no way to preserve a clear blue or purple color with the help of special manipulations - there is no need to torment the baby in dubious ways.
It happens that a child's eye color changes over time. unusual look– the irises of the organs of vision differ in shade or are completely different. This phenomenon is usually considered very interesting feature. It is not treated provided that, apart from the difference in eye color, no pathological changes in the tissue are observed. But such children are subject to regular examination by an ophthalmologist to ensure the absence of specific disorders.
The influence of heredity on the shade of a baby's eyes
Regardless of the initial eye color of a newborn, it will certainly change over time. Although the dominant shade is brown and green is the least common, no possibilities can be ruled out. Leading shades can also be very different. In some cases, three colors are present in the baby’s eyes at once.
The color inheritance probability table is as follows:
| Parents eye color | Probability of brown eyes | Probability of green eyes | Probability of gray (blue) eyes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brown + brown | 75% | Almost 19% | About 6% |
| Brown + green | 50% | 37,5% | 12,5% |
| Brown + gray | 50% | - | 50% |
| Green+green | Less than 1% | 75% | 25% |
| Green + gray | 0% | 50% | 50% |
| Gray + gray | 0% | 1% | 99% |
It is noteworthy that even during the period when children’s eyes are blue, their shade can vary greatly depending on the influence of a number of factors:
- If the eye color turns steely and looks like a thundercloud, this may indicate that the baby is hungry.
- When children's eyes are cloudy, they are most likely sleepy.
- The color of the eyes will be greenish to the color of wet grass when the baby cries.
- In cases where children are calm, happy and do not need anything, their eyes become a clear blue color.
In addition, the eye color of newborns often changes under the influence of such external factors, such as the intensity of light or sun, temperature and humidity levels.
When and how do babies change eye color?
It is impossible to say unequivocally when parents need to prepare for a change in eye color in their child; everything is very individual. A dark-skinned toddler with brown-eyed parents can delight with a permanent shade already at the age of 2 months. However, it will not necessarily be brown. But still, most often, this process in infants begins at about 6-8 months and drags on for 3-5 years. A later change in color is often observed. In addition, many cases have been recorded in which adult eyes change color depending on lighting and mood.
To give parents peace of mind, pediatricians cite the following facts:
- The process of changing the shade of the iris can happen either quickly or slowly; there is no need to panic, even if this happens at different times for twins.
- For some children, eye color changes several times until it settles. Moreover, the shades can be very different, light and dark.
- The most informative eyes are those of those babies who are initially born with a light blue iris. They are able to change their color several times a day.
With all this, it must be remembered that the likelihood of changes in eye tone and its saturation in newborns or older children may also be due to pathological factors. In cases where the iris is colored unevenly, takes on a bizarre appearance, or the condition is accompanied by changes in the baby’s behavior, the attention of the local pediatrician should be brought to this point.
Parents who are waiting for their baby to change eye color may be interested in the following information:
- The initial and final shades even depend on what country and region the baby was born in. The less sun, the lighter the final version will be.
- Green eyes are found in only 2% of people on the entire planet. Considering the fact that this gene is quite weak, and this amount is gradually but steadily decreasing.
- Among the Russian population, people with gray and blue eyes are most often found; brown eyes account for no more than 30%. Among Belarusians and Ukrainians, brown eyes are found in 50% of cases. Spaniards and Latinos with brown eyes account for up to 80% of the population.
- With physiological (or pathological) jaundice, the sclera of the eyes acquire a yellowish tint, which makes it impossible to accurately determine the child’s original eye color. Only after the condition returns to normal will it become clear what kind of irises the baby has.
It happens that the pigment melanin is absent in the body of a newborn. In this case, his eyes acquire a specific red tint. This condition is called albinism. It does not go away over time and cannot be treated.
