Our blue-eyed and blonde-haired gift from God



Like any expectant mum, Angela Ihegboro spent many hours wondering what her new baby would look like. She made no secret of the fact that she hoped the little girl would turn out to be 'just a mini version of me'.



'We used to joke about it,' she says, rolling her eyes as she looks at her husband Benjamin. 'We have two children already and they are both the spitting image of their father. We found out at a scan that this baby was a girl, and all through the pregnancy I'd say: "it is my turn now. This one is going to look exactly like me." '



To say that didn't quite happen is an understatement. in fact, the tiny little scrap lying in her arms today could hardly look less like her mother. Or her father, for that matter.



Genetic riddle: Nmachi with her parents Ben and Angela

Both Angela and Ben are black, of Nigerian stock, with dark brown eyes and dark hair.



Little Nmachi, who is just two weeks old, is about as white as you can get - and with piercing blue eyes and a shock of the blondest hair to boot. And no, she isn't albino.



Those friends and relatives popping in to welcome the new arrival can be forgiven for hesitating over that traditional conversation: Who does she look like? in truth, the only name that comes to mind when you look at the little girl is Boris Johnson (although it hardly needs pointing out that the distinctive features are a million times cuter in a baby girl).



Many babies are hailed as 'miracles'. It seems that Nmachi might be one of the few who truly deserves the title. in genetic terms, she is indeed most unusual - if not unheard of. For the past week, since news of her arrival broke, the scientific community has been scratching its head.



As he gazes on his baby daughter, Ben sums up the dilemma the family finds itself in.



'Everyone wants to know how a couple as black as us can produce a baby as white as this. I've never heard of it before. Outside the delivery room, when the reality was just settling in I remember thinking: "Someone will be able to explain this to us." But it hasn't happened yet. I don't know if we'll ever know why.'



Miracle baby: Nmachi is not an albino

Doctors at Queen Mary Hospital in Sidcup in Kent, where Nmachi was born, immediately ruled out albinism, which would have been the most likely explanation.



Albinos generally have a complete absence of pigment, with pink eyes.



Now there is some debate, however, with at least one leading scientist arguing that there are four different types of albinism, all of which allow different levels of colouring to develop.



Professor Ian Jackson, an expert in melanocytes - cells that produce pigment - at the British Medical Research Council's Human Genetics Unit, points out that in type 2 cases, creamy skin and yellow hair are possible. The blue eyes, however, would be highly unusual.



Frankly, the family are baffled. Ben admits himself that he is no expert in genetics - 'I knew that it wasn't as simple as putting A with B and making C, but beyond that, not really' - but he may be about to become one. His own family history may be about to come under scrutiny, too.



No one in the family is aware of any white blood at all, and I don't really know how you go about looking any further. Part of me wants to know what's happened here, to have an answer to tell Nmachi when she gets older. But another part of me thinks that it doesn't matter. Perhaps God made her like this for a reason.



'And quite honestly, at the end of the day it doesn't matter whether she is white or black or red or green. She's beautiful and healthy, and that's what is important.'



It has long been recognised that the laws of genetics dictate that every so often a genetic quirk can result in a child's skin-tone being different to his or her parents.



It is not unheard of for a white or black couple to produce a child of a seemingly different race - with a rogue light-skinned gene, perhaps generations back, being responsible.



Experts say that, in this extreme case, there would have to be history of white ancestry on both sides. And it seems that it is Nmachi's almost Scandinavian colouring that is baffling them.



As Professor Bryan Sykes, head of Human Genetics at Oxford University and Britain's leading expert, puts it: 'The hair is extremely unusual. even many blonde children don't have blonde hair like this at birth. This might be a case where there is a lot of genetic mixing, as in Afro-Caribbean populations. But in Nigeria there is little mixing.'



As far as Ben and Angela are concerned, there is no 'white' blood in their family history. Ben's mother has lighter skin and eyes than him, but she is still unmistakably 'black'.



The mystery of Nmachi's colouring may one day be known, but until then her proud parents are taking her arrival very much in their stride.



At their flat, in Woolwich, South- east London, friends and relatives have been pitching in to lend a hand since she got home from hospital. Ben's best friend, Cajeban Ikwuonu, who travelled to the UK to see her, says he got 'the shock of my life' when he first saw the baby.



Rainbow family: The proud parents with baby Nmachi, older daughter Dumebi and son Chisom

Ben didn't tell me that she was white on the phone. We already knew it was going to be a girl, and he called to say she had arrived and that everyone was overjoyed.



'It was a few days later when I actually got here and he took me in to see her. Angela was in the room and there was a midwife - a white woman - carrying this white baby. I obviously thought it was another couple's baby.



'Then Ben said: "This is her," and it was such a shock. He hadn't wanted to tell me on the phone and I can understand that. i wouldn't have believed it anyway. How can a black couple have a white child?'



The couple themselves were as shocked as anyone when Nmachi emerged. Ben was in the delivery room at the birth - 'a good thing', he says.



'It was a Caesarean, and I was there, so I saw her being lifted out. I'm very glad I was, otherwise I'd have been saying: "What mistake has been made here?" '



It was the hair that initially confused him. 'Obviously she looked very light, but black babies are often much lighter skinned at birth. it's only over weeks and months that they get darker. But the hair was a shock from the off. Then the eyes. I have never seen such blue.'



Although Angela was equally taken aback, the most shocking aspect for her has not been the colour of her daughter's skin, but other people's reaction to it.



'Yes, her colouring was a surprise. When they placed her in my arms, I looked at her and thought: "My goodness, I have never seen a baby of our race this fair."



'And her hair! She looked like a doll. But the minute I held her, none of that mattered.

'What has surprised me, though, is what other people have said. I've been asked: "Are you going to treat her any differently because she is lighter skinned?" Of course not. Am I going to love her any less? Absolutely not. When she gets older and asks me why she is different, I will just say: "it was God's will." '



And what do Nmachi's older brother and sister think of her? 'They adore her. They come up and touch her and say "My sister" and they really don't comment on her colour. The good thing is that children don't notice.'



How straightforward life would be if that was the case with adults. even

at this early stage, as the 'welcome baby' presents are still arriving, difficult questions are emerging in this household.



Although Ben says he is '100 per cent sure' the child is his, he says he is still considering a DNA test.



'I do think I will probably have a DNA test. Not to prove anything to me - I know my wife and I trust her 100 per cent - but to make a point to other people.'



Is Angela hurt at the accusations being hurled in her direction?



'Of course. It's confusing because I know the truth. I am loyal to my husband. I would never be with another man. But the thing is that people even doubt that she came out of me - but of course she did.'



Is Ben angered by the public reaction to Nmachi's birth (internet forums are full of baffled, and often blinkered, debate about how this baby has come to be)?



'Well yes I am a little, but at the same time I can understand it. I would probably be saying exactly the same thing if I saw this happening to someone else. I would say: "No way, you are kidding me. There must be something funny going on here. The wife must have been with another man."



'But even if Angela had been - and I know she hasn't - it wouldn't explain the baby's colouring. There would be some black in there, wouldn't there, even from her?'



Genetic explanations aside, there will be other issues to confront. Some of the questions clearly haven't even been considered yet. There's a moment during our interview when the adults consider the practical issues that Nmachi might encounter as she gets older.



I ask about those forms we all have to fill in, specifying ethnic background. Will there be a doubt as to which box to tick?



'No. It'll be "Black, African", certainly,' says Ben's friend.



'No,' says Ben. 'If her skin stays this colour she will be white. But then, she's not white either, is she? And there isn't really a box with "White but with black parents". And her background is very much black African. Oh dear . . .'



Eventually, he throws his arms in the air. 'Actually, maybe we will have to make up another box just for her.' He says he is hoping - 'for her sake, really' - that Nmachi's skin darkens as she gets older.



'Black babies are often born with lighter skin than they end up with. Skin, like eye colour and hair, can change. We will have to wait and see. It may be that her skin darkens to the point where she does look black - although I doubt this will ever happen. As for the hair - I just don't know. I mean, that is blonde. That is seriously blonde.'



And if it doesn't? 'Then things will probably be more difficult for her, yes. I expect she'll be asked things like: "Are you adopted?" That will be hard. In a way, that's why we don't mind having the publicity about it. People will know the truth, rather than whispering about it.'



In many ways, Nmachi couldn't have been born into a family more capable of handling the difficulties to come.



Both Ben and Angela are obviously proud of their background, and emphasise that it is their culture, rather than colour, that matters.



They moved to the UK five years ago, because they felt there were more opportunities here for them.



Ben's first marriage had been to a Swiss woman, and he is a Swiss National. When his marriage failed - 'She did not want children; I did, simple as that,' he explains - he returned to his native Nigeria on holiday, where he met and married Angela.



It was pure economics that brought them to Britain. They came over so that Ben could get a better paid job.



'I came first and got a job with a security company. I worked hard to be able to afford to bring my wife here. Eventually, she came and found work, too. I think this country has many opportunities - if you are prepared to work hard for them.'



While Angela was working as a care assistant, they had two children - Chisom, four, and Dumebi, two. Now they are endeavouring to raise their family with an awareness of their British and Nigerian roots.



'We think of them as British Nigerian, but I do want them to be aware of where they are from. They haven't been back to my village yet, because it is too expensive, but they will.



'At home, we speak our language, Igbo, but they will hopefully grow up feeling that they belong to both communities. Obviously, with Nmachi it's going to be even more important to make sure she feels a part of her Nigerian culture, but that is up to us, as parents.'



So Angela did not get the baby daughter who looks just like her. But it seems she no longer minds.



'In our culture a baby is a blessing. It doesn't matter whether it's a boy or a girl, or whatever colour her skin is,' she points out.



'Her name means Beauty of God in our language, and we think it suits her so well.'



