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Baby Genetics

By on November 29, 2010
Photo © Elena Derevtsova
 
QUESTION: My husband and I are trying to conceive and would like to know if the baby will take after my husband’s features or mine.  

ANSWER: It depends on which genes are ‘dominant’.  For example, if a black man has a child with a white woman, the offspring will be dark-skinned, since the gene for pigmentation of the skin takes precedence, so to speak, over the gene for light-coloured skin.  This may be seen in President Obama, whose father was black and whose mother was white.  Apart from these major differences, whether the child will look more like his or her mother or father is something that cannot be determined in advance and it seems to be a matter of chance.  Often people may remark ,”He’s got his mo-ther’s eyes” or “She’s got her father’s nose.”  In fact, if one looks carefully, it is usually possible to discern features of both parents in the child.

The question reminds me of a story about George Bernard Shaw (1856 – 1950), the famous Irish playwright, journalist, and apologist for the Soviet Union, who, the story goes, was propositioned by an actress and renowned beauty of the day to have a child with him.  

“Mr. Shaw, what a wonderful thing it would be for us to get married. Think of the children we could have. Why, with my beauty and your brains, they would conquer the world.”

“Yes, Madam,’ Shaw replied, ‘but what if they had my beauty and your brains?”

Dr Gabriel Symonds is the director of the Tokyo British Clinic, established in 1992.  Comprehensive medical services are available including administration of seasonal influenza vaccine
Tel: (03) 5458-6099.  
www.tokyobritishclinic.com

About Dr. Gabriel Symonds

Dr. Gabriel Symonds was the director of the Tokyo British Clinic. The clinic closed down in May 2014 after serving the expatriate community for 20+ years. Dr. Symonds has retired and the Tokyo British Clinic is now closed. Dr Symonds will continue to live in Tokyo and may be contacted by e-mail over any questions concerning medical records or related matters: symonds@tokyobritishclinic.com He will be available from another address for: smoking cessation psychotherapy/counselling circumcision information Tel: (03) 5458-6099 www.tokyobritishclinic.com