Medical experts have reckoned the odds against three children being born with this genetic combination at around five million to one. Even then, only one in four of their offspring on average should have albinism. The chance of marrying someone carrying the same gene is even more remote. The chances of one parent carrying such a gene are small. Melanin is found in the skin, eyes and hair of all ‘races’ in various amounts, leading to different expressions of the same basic colour. When two such genes pair in the offspring, the result is a very low production of the brown-black pigment, melanin. Meet London’s remarkable Unoarumhi family-both parents are of typical African appearance with dark skin, eyes, and hair, while all three of their children have white skin, blond hair and hazel-green eyes!Įach of the children happens to have inherited a gene for a form of albinism (see What is albinism?) from each parent. All three children are fully their own biological offspring. Both parents were born in Nigeria, and have a long African ancestry. Love is more than skin deep A chat with Dickson and Cynthia Unoarumhi Dickson and Cynthia Unoarumhi, with their daughter, Atinuke, and sons Osimo and Ayonote. Sharing purposes, readers are advised to supplement these historic articles with more up-to-date ones suggested in the Related Articles and Further Reading below. Editor’s note: As Creation magazine has been continuously published since 1978, weĪre publishing some of the articles from the archives for historical interest, such as this.

More than skin deep