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The Truth Behind This White-Haired Baby
A White-Haired Baby
Most of us have plenty of time to enjoy our looks and youth before we start to worry about age spots or white hair, wrinkles, and saggy eyes. That wasn’t the case for little baby Bence, who was born with a full head of stark white hair.
What Is Abnormal And What Isn’t?
Bence was nearly 12 pounds at birth, which is slightly above average. His height was pretty normal, coming in at 21 inches. And It’s abnormal for a baby to be born with a full head of hair, but extremely abnormal to have a full head of white hair.
What Is The Reason?
Initial health checks all came back negative, and Bence appeared to be a healthy baby just like any other. Doctors were confused as to why his hair was white. Was his health in danger?
Prenatal Stress
Some other doctors speculated the white hair could be a sign of rare illness, or simply a symptom of prenatal stress. Some infants are prone to stress and anxiety if the mother was stressed while the baby was in the womb. And this gave doctors bigger concerns.
Internet’s Take
Bence’s unique appearance quickly gained attention on the Internet, and people weren’t shy about voicing their opinions. A few outspoken commenters openly disagreed with Dr. Kummer, who believes the hair will darken as Bence ages. They believe, instead, that the white-colored hair could be a sign of early albinism.
Levels Of Melanin
The new hypothesis that Bence might have albinism seemed like a possibility. Albinism prevents the body from creating melanin, resulting in pale or white hair and skin. Bence’s hair clearly represented a pigmentation deficiency. Doctors decided to give him a blood test to see if he had low levels of melanin.
Only In His Hair
Dr. Zoltan Kummer examined the blood test results and found that low melanin may have been the contributing factor in the white hair. However, low levels of melanin has many side effects, so why was it only affecting his hair? Was it a glaring sign?
The Right Diagnosis?
“It can be under diagnosed. One of my grandchildren has yellow albinism. It was brought to our attention by the eye doctor when he was 2. He is now 12 and is considered legally blind,” said one commenter on social media.
Similar Cases
“My daughter was born with hair like that. She has dirty blonde hair now and some pigment but she has albinism,” said a woman commenter.
Hoping For Healthy
According to most doctors, white hair in babies is usually associated with genetics. Other times, it can be caused by vitamin B12 deficiency or mutant hair cells. Since there were no signs of albinism in Bence’s genetic testing, hopefully this is just some temporary fluke. Albinism is associated with severe vision and skin problems later in life, and that is the last thing we want for handsome baby Bence. There are other cases of strange pigment loss in other babies.
A Hereditary Streak
Bence’s story may remind you of a baby girl named MilliAnna born in 2016. She was also born with a full head of hair. Her hair was black, with a white streak in the middle and top of her head.
Loss Of Pigment
There was clearly a loss of pigment in a small section of MilliAnna’s hair. She was far too cute to be compared to Cruella de Vil, however, despite the resemblance.
Runs In The Family
In MilliAnna’s case, her white hair was actually genetic. Most of the women in her family also were born with a white streak in their hair.
Poliosis
This trait is called poliosis, which caused her to be born with a small patch of pigment-free skin on her forehead and scalp.
The Style Of The Family
MilliAnna’s mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother all rock the signature bleached streak.
Four Generations
In this family, the streak goes back four generations. Maybe in the future, one of MilliAnna’s children will be born with it, too. Now, let’s take a look at some babies who have no problem growing a full head of hair, all in the same color. These kids are rocking a full head!
Babies With A Full Head Of Hair
The fact that Bence had a full head of hair was less confusing to everyone than the color. A baby’s hair growth is due to variances in their genetics, and hormonal changes can cause a spurt at any time. Looks like this baby had no problem growing hair early on.
Other Theories
Babies born with white hair are most of the time regarded as just platinum blond babies, or towheads. A towhead is a person with a head of tow-colored or very blond hair.
The Thoughts Of Mothers
On the Baby and Bump website forum, mothers discuss their platinum blond babies. One mom wrote, “Everyone seems to act as though my little blondie is one of the rarest things they’ve ever seen. We can’t take him anywhere without everyone fawning over him…to the point of where if we want to do an errand, the best thing to do is put a hat on him.”
Lots And Lots Of Hair
Doctors frequently tell parents not to worry, that a full head of hair isn’t completely out of the ordinary, and to snap photos of the look because it may not last long. Another strange abnormality rarely seen is babies that are born with teeth! It’s hard to believe but it’s true…
Babies With Teeth
About 2,000 to 3,000 babies are born with teeth each year, though it’s typically just one or two teeth. In 2015, a baby named Alyssa Bailey was born with two bottom front teeth, drawing attention from multiple news outlets. These babies are interesting to look at to say the least. They are just as beautiful and special as any other baby, and it’s nice to know that they are healthy, happy, and very loved!
Rare Or Not?
So maybe albinism has nothing to do with it? Could Bence just be a really blond newborn baby? Another mom from Baby and Bump wrote, “My brother was born so blond he looked bald! My friend’s twins are the same, their hair is white blond.”
A Final Thought
All babies are special, but some just happen to give doctors a scare! Thankfully, all of these babies turned out happy and healthy! Here are some other theories on the white hair…
Targaryen?
And then of course…there’s the Game of Thrones theory. Maybe babies born with white hair are descendents of Daenerys Targaryen, one of the main characters in the television series.
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