What colour is a babies skin when its born???

[Tallia]

Hi everyone! This may sound like a weird question to ask but im curious!! When babies are born, i have heard that babies with parents of black american or say african decsent are born with white skin that slowly changes to their proper colour as they grow. Is this true or are all babies born with the right skin colour straight away?

[Trialanderror]

Not all babies are born with different skin colour all over but among African descent you do find a lot who are initially a lot paler than they will be later on, probably among those whose original African descent has been mixed during slavery or during European colonization of their islands. A baby at he Ivory Coast, born to loacl parents, may be really dark to begin with. It is all in the gene pool. Just the same in Northern Europe all babies are born blue eyed and blond and only later change colour. Where I come from, you see nothing but blond and blue-eyed kids in kindergarten classes but grown ups do have all kinds of shades of eyes and hair. Skin colour remains the same from birth, though. That`s the late impact of the Vikings. And finally, in East Asia, most babies are born with the "Mongolian Spot" on their backs. It is a large purple mark that makes innocent mothers assume thier newborns were injured, but it disappears after a short while.

[CYW]

A friend of mine had slept with a "white" guy one month after sleeping with a molato guy. (white mixed with black) Anywho when her baby was born he was really pale. He was born almost 3 weeks before his due date and he was too big etc etc anyways she claimed there were no other way. Anyways as years went by, 2 to be exact, the father which thought he was the father ordered a paternity test to be done, the child has a very dark skin tone color AND his hair are supper curly, like tight curls. Anyways results came back that the molato guy was indeed the father. We kept telling her his second week at home, the baby's that is, that he was not fully white. That it was with the first guy she had slept with a month prior.

[blessed_mommy]

Are you aware that the word you are using is a racial term?  I am an African American mother of two multicultural children (black, white, mexican)and I find that word to be very offensive.  That term was originated during slavery and I think we have come far enough where it should not be used any longer.  Newborns color can or cannot change.  It can be as pale as the day they were born or it can change and become  a beautiful child of color.

[CYW]

I am very very very very very very sorry that the terms I have used were offensive to you, I really am. I am not racist in anyway. The reason to why i did use that term was simply because some of my friends are also african/american or jamaican. Everytime I used the term african amarican to be polite they took offence to it-they prefered for us "white" people to just go by their colour if we don't know any of their background information. I have cousins and uncles and aunts who are african american and colours are not an issue to me-I should have posted within my post that I did not mean to offend anyone at all. I had a feeling this would probably happen and just to let you know I hold no grudge or judgement by a person's outsides or colour or ethnicity:) I am sorry for offending you, I will keep this also into considerations for the near future.

[anxiousmomtobe?]

PoliticaL correctness will vary somewhat do to the area you are living in.  Here in Nova Scotia, parents prefer to have their mixed ancestry kids referred to as multi-racial, mulatto is an old slave term and is not much better than that other word.  I absolutely got that you meant no offense, we only learn things when others point them out to us.

[CYW]

yeah exactly...I'm in ontario...And here thats how well the people I know work. I will definately keep that in mind. I didn't mean any offense by anything I said and I appologize.,

[mrsmommy495]

Babies of African Descent are almost always born very fair skinned.  Their permanent skin color may not develop until 6 months or more.  This is regardless of the recentcy of racial-mixing in the baby's background.  Melanin (the "stuff" that makes you darker) production is activated by sunlight--[not much of that in the womb].  Hence--sun tanning.