SHE’S just a few days old and looks just like a little doll, with round pink cheeks, a rosebud mouth, blonde hair and blue eyes. And, like most parents, her mother and father think she is adorable – even though she looks absolutely nothing like them.
Little Nmachi Ihegboro’s birth has made headlines in the UK where her Nigerian family lives because, unusually, she doesn’t have the same colouring as her parents and siblings. The Ihegboros, who are of Igbo descent, all have dark skin, dark eyes and dark hair, which is the exact opposite of the new addition to their family.
Nmachi is definitely not an albino, genetics experts in the UK have confirmed – but they still can’t explain why she looks like a white baby. It’s likely she has an unknown genetic mutation, or there could be some white genes carried down from her parents’ ancestors, they speculate. But at this point it’s anyone’s guess why Nmachi looks the way she does.
Nobody is more baffled than the baby’s parents, Ben and Angela Ihegboro. The couple, who moved to South London in the UK five years ago, couldn’t believe their eyes when Nmachi was born at Queen Mary’s Hospital. “I’m sure she’s my kid,” dad Ben (44) jokes. “I just don’t know why she’s blonde!”
He and Angela (35) were both stunned, he says. “We just sat there after the birth, staring at her and not saying anything. Eventually, the first thing I did was look at her and say, ‘What the flip?’. I was so shocked I even joked and asked, ‘Is she mine?’”
It’s a question many are asking but Ben is adamant there’s no reason to ask it. He believes Angela has been faithful and won’t entertain talk that Nmachi may not be his child. “Of course she’s mine,” he says. “My wife is true to me. Even if she hadn’t been the baby still wouldn’t look like that.”
Angela is also paying no mind to talk of infidelity. She’s just delighted her baby is healthy despite her unusual appearance. “She’s beautiful,” the proud mom says. “She is a miracle baby
