The chances were literally one in a million.
Catherine Howarth, a financial analyst in the UK, has the very dark skin of her Nigerian heritage.
So when she was presented with her newborn, a little boy with skin as white as can be, she thought she’d been given the wrong child.
“The midwife looked at me and looked back down at Jonah and then at me again and couldn’t believe it,” Catherine, 32, told the Mirror UK.
“The doctors confirmed it was extremely rare.”
Baby Jonah’s father, Richard, is white. But doctors say the chances of Richard’s and Catherine’s child being white too were tiny – only one in a million.
They have confirmed that Jonah is not albino but that Catherine must be carrying a recessive white gene.
“My parents were from Nigeria and, for as far back as anyone can remember, my family have all been black,” she told the Mirror.
“But at some point there must have been a white gene in my family that has remained dormant for years and years – until now.
“The doctors said they had researched the chances of this happening and discovered that it was very, very rare.”
Catherine and Richard say they are concerned with more important things than the colour of Jonah’s skin.
“The colour of his skin is of no concern – Jonah being a healthy and happy baby is what matters,” Richard said.
“Despite the initial shock, Richard and I couldn’t be happier,” Catherine said. “Jonah is a beautiful, happy and smiling son, and I adore him.”
According to the Mirror, Catherine and Richard plan to have more children but the chances of Jonah having white siblings are highly unlikely.
