The Fertility Institutes, which offers fertility services in California, New York, Utah and Mexico, offers the following odds of a baby’s eye color based on the parents’ eye colors. If one parent has brown eyes and the other has blue eyes, the chances of having a brown-eyed or blue-eyed baby are roughly even. If one of the grandparents has blue eyes, the odds of having a baby with blue eyes increases slightly. Two hazel-eyed parents are likely to have a hazel-eyed child, although a different eye color could emerge. Two green-eyed parents are likely to have a green-eyed child, although there are exceptions. Two brown-eyed parents are likely to have a brown-eyed child. Two blue-eyed parents are likely to have a blue-eyed child, but it’s not guaranteed. As the American Academy of Pediatrics explains: When the iris stores a lot of melanin, the eyes will be amber (a golden brown), light brown or dark brown.Įven though you don’t know the amount of melanin your baby will have, you can still get a pretty good sense of eye color from the parents’ eye colors. As the child grows older, if they’ve developed slightly more melanin in their irises, the eyes will be green or hazel.
BLUE EYE MAKEUP FOR BROWN EYES SKIN
While a baby inherits half of their eye color genetics from one parent and half from the other parent, the way that the genes interact also plays a role in determining eye color.ĭifferences in eye color are also influenced by differing amounts of melanin, the pigment responsible for eye color (plus hair color and skin tone).įor instance, many white non-Hispanic babies are born with blue eyes because they don't have the full amount of melanin present in their irises at birth. There’s no guarantee when it comes to your offspring’s eye color. Ultimately, the parents’ eye colors can help predict their child’s eye color, but it’s only one factor. Although those scenarios are uncommon, they do happen. Scientists now know that a collection of up to 16 genes plays a role in eye color genetics, so it’s entirely possible for parents with brown eyes to welcome a blue-eyed child into the world and vice versa. This led to the belief that a child whose parents shared an eye color (such as brown) couldn’t inherit a different eye color (such as blue). But eye color genetics isn’t as simple as looking at the parents’ eyes and then predicting a child’s eye color.Īt one time, researchers thought that only one gene passed eye color from parents to their children. Whether your child is born with brown eyes or blue eyes - or any hue in between - involves a complicated game of genetic roulette.