Eye Color (A Genetics Question for the Sciencey Peeps)

[TooManyCats]

This is pretty random, but I didn't want it to get wrapped up in the randoms thread.

I remember on TB we had a big post about eye color and how there is more to it than the grid thing we all learned in HS.

Well my kids eyes have been driving me crazy because they don't seem to match what it says here: www.babymed.com/tools/eye-color-predictor

I'm guessing this calculator is crap? DH definitely has eyes that are not brown. Whether they are hazel or green is debatable. My eyes are blue. According to the calculator my kids should have either hazel (green?) or blue eyes. DS1's eyes were a dark black/navy until he turned 2 and now they are brown with a hazel centre. DS2's eyes are lighter than his bros were, but I'm pretty sure they are turning brown too! If the calculator is right then I assume the boys eyes will eventually settle on a hazel or green like DH's did when he was 18.

Please explain it to me so I can stop obsessing....

(It doesn't matter what colour they are to me, it's just driving me nuts not knowing!)

[TooManyCats]

Or if you aren't Sciencey, just give the calculator a try and tell me if it's wrong for you too :-)

[darwinfish]

Eye color is not typical mendelian genetics like was once thought, so a basic punnett square like you used in high school will not always yield accurate results. There are multiple genes that influence eye color so your 2x2 grid may be accurate for one of the genes, but you have to do that for each gene. And, certain genes impact it more than others so you would have something similar to Gene A (.25) Gene B (.15) etc, etc.....

But, I haven't looked at the calculator.

[darwinfish]

Also, there is thought that some of the genes that influence the pigment can be turned on later in life, hence why you see changes later.

Basically no one can tell you what color your kids eyes are going to end up, so continue to go nuts if you like .

[TooManyCats]

Thanks darwinfish! I vaguely remembered you summing it up like this but I couldn't totally remember how it worked. It's just annoying because whenever I have to fill out forms with DS1's eye colour, it is a harder question than it really should be MIL swears DH's eyes were brown growing up, but they were definitely green when I met him!

Genetics are kinda fascinating. I wonder what else has changed since I took science....

Pluto isn't a planet.
Dinosaurs had feathers.

That's all I got.

[ssfc2014]

For most of my childhood my eyes were a mixture of blue and green. Then at some point they changed to a very hazel color. Both of my boys have blue eyes like their dads.

[mrssarahrenee]

No idea. I am waiting for E's eyes to change

[ssfc2014]

Pluto will always be a planet to me!

[TooManyCats]

Jan 19, 2015 14:37:22 GMT -5 ssfc2014 said:

Pluto will always be a planet to me!

Same here 

[mrssarahrenee]

Oh Pluto. He has all the sads.

[TooManyCats]

Jan 19, 2015 15:39:34 GMT -5 mrssarahrenee said:

Oh Pluto. He has all the sads.

LOL, that is awesome!  Poor Pluto

[windwithfingers]

That thing confused the shit out of me.

ETA: My eyes are green, DH's were brown, calculator says DS's will be brown, but they're looking green so far.

[cornerofthesky]

MH's eyes are blue, mine were hazel but have been more green since college. DS1's are hazel at this point and DS2's are still blue so we'll see how they end up.

[kfitz]

What if you have two different colored eyes? Mine are different (hazel-green and hazel-brown)

[rosalie12]

I was hoping DD would have my blue eyes just to have something of one because she is otherwise a spitting image of DH but nope, brown eyes.

Except my eyes are mostly blue. My left eye is half brown. I'm mutated, I suppose.

[TooManyCats]

Jan 19, 2015 19:27:23 GMT -5 kfitz said:

What if you have two different colored eyes? Mine are different (hazel-green and hazel-brown)

Who knows!  That's kind of the problem I was having.  Like DF said it's more complicated than we learned in HS.  

[TooManyCats]

Jan 20, 2015 0:57:31 GMT -5 rosalie12 said:

I was hoping DD would have my blue eyes just to have something of one because she is otherwise a spitting image of DH but nope, brown eyes.

Except my eyes are mostly blue. My left eye is half brown. I'm mutated, I suppose.

That sounds really cool!  Very unique    Our first son looks nothing like either of us, and this LO maybe looks like his dad (jury is still out on that one)?  I was hoping he'd keep his blue eyes so we'd at least have some resemblance but that doesn't look likely.  I just hope people don't wonder why my boys both have dark eyes while DH and I have light