The odds of baby Jonah looking like this were a million to one.

By SHAUNA ANDERSON

The odds of this baby looking like this were a million-to-one.

Can you believe it?

This delightful newborn’s mother is Nigerian by heritage – so she was expecting her firstborn to look at least a little like her.

But this delightful little guys’ skin colour is the opposite end of the spectrum from his mother’s gorgeous tone.

Catherine Howarth, 32, told The Mirror the first time she saw baby Johan she was “a little taken aback.”

“The midwife looked at me and looked back down at Jonah and then at me again and couldn’t believe it.”

While the baby’s Dad, Richard is white Doctors say the chances of Jonah being white too were one in a million.

According to The Mirror, baby Jonah is not an albino, just an amazing twist of genetics.

“We have been told that I must have been carrying a recessive gene,” Catherine said. “My parents were from Nigeria and, for as far back as anyone can remember, my family have all been black.”

She said that at some point there must have been a white gene in her family that has remained dormant for years and years – until now.

“The doctors said they had researched the chances of this happening and discovered that it was very, very rare,” she said.

“They had only found two similar cases, both in America.”

The Daily Mail reports that while it is extremely unusal for a white baby to be born to a black mother, it does happen.

Here’s how, as reported by The Daily Mail:

Skin colour is a very strong example of genetic influence. It depends on the amount of the pigment melanin found in the skin cells, and this amount is predetermined by the genetic blueprint of each cell. There are an infinite number of different skin colours, known as phenotypes. These range through black, dark brown, brown, light brown to white skin. Each expression of melanin has an accumulating effect on skin tone – in other words, the more there is in each parent’s genes, the darker that person will be.

Therefore, a baby’s colour will usually depend on the predominating amount of melanin in their parents. Although again, it is possible, though fairly infrequent, that dark-skinned parents give birth to a pale-skinned child, or vice versa, if their own parents or grandparents are paler or lighter than they are.

According to The Guardian, one of the most famous cases of a baby being born a surprising colour is that of Sandra Laing, a black woman born to white parents in apartheid-ridden South Africa in 1955.

The Guardian writes: “by a biological quirk, the pigment of an unknown black ancestor had lain dormant for generations and manifested in Sandra.”

For baby Jonah, though, the world is – hopefully –  now a kinder place.

His dad Richard told The Mirror he was just happy the baby was healthy.

“When I first set eyes on my baby boy Jonah, it was a feeling of pure delight and relief that he was healthy and strong. His complexion was very pale due to the umbilical cord being wrapped around his neck when he was being delivered,” he said.

“After a few hours his colour came to his cheeks. Catherine and I noticed his complexion was very similar to mine and were surprised it was as light. The midwives and doctors told us he’ll most likely remain this colour.”

Our very best to the lovely brand new family. May your million-to–one baby bring you much joy and happiness.
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