As your baby is exposed to light in the first few months of life, melanocytes begin to produce more melanin, which can lead to changes in eye color. The more melanin produced, the darker the eyes will become. This is why some babies born with blue or gray eyes may develop green, hazel, or brown eyes over time.
New parents can spend a lot of time gazing into their baby's beautiful eyes-and wondering about their colour. Will it stay the shade they're born with, or will it change? We spoke to experts to find the answer to all your baby eye colour questions! Your baby's eyes may be a shade of blue, light gray or brown as a newborn, but will that always be the case? Here's how to tell when (and if!) your baby will go through a change in eye color. Learn about the determinants of eye color at birth and beyond, ways to predict a baby's eye color, and how to protect their eyes from damage.
Most Caucasian babies are born with a dark slate color eyes, and most non-Caucasian babies are born with dark brown eyes. In time, as melanin develops baby eye color changes. Eye color genetics is complex, with multiple genes from each parent determining a person's eye color.
Scientists once believed a single gene controlled eye color, but research shows that more than 50 genes influence it. 1 A baby's eye color depends on the amount and type of melanin in the iris. Darker eye colors, such as brown, tend to remain dark from birth, while lighter initial colors like blue or gray are more prone to changing.
Predicting Your Baby's Eye Color Predicting a baby's eye color is challenging due to the complex interplay of genes and melanin production. Understanding Eye Color Genetics Determining how to tell what color eyes a newborn will have involves understanding the complex interplay of genetics. Eye color is primarily determined by the amount and type of pigments present in the iris.
The two main pigments are eumelanin, which is brown or black, and pheomelanin, which is yellow or red. Eye color is a genetic property, but it's not quite as cut-and-dried as you might have learned in biology class. Because it takes about a year for melanocytes to finish their work it can be a dicey business calling eye color before the baby's first birthday.
When Will Her Eye Color be Set? Some babies, including many of those born to parents of African or Asian ancestry, are born with brown eyes that will remain brown. But if your baby has European heritage and she's born with blue eyes, they may change over time. Remember, blue eyes have the least amount of melanin.
In some babies, the cells that produce melanin in the irises keep working after.