In order to be a redhead, a baby needs two copies of the red hair gene (a mutation of the MC1R gene) because it is recessive. This means if neither parent is ginger, they both need to carry the gene and pass it on — and even then they will have just a 25% chance of the child turning out to be a redhead.
Since you need two pieces of “red hair” DNA to have red hair, your child will only have red hair if they receive “red hair” DNA from both parents. Even if you don't have red hair, you can still pass on a red hair allele to your child!
Red hair is a recessive trait, which means that only those who get two “redhead” versions of the gene, one from the mother and one from the father, will have red hair.
The gene for red hair is recessive, so a person needs two copies of that gene for it to show up or be expressed. That means even if both parents carry the gene, just one in four of their children are likely to turn out to be a redhead.
Both parents must possess the gene for a red-haired child to be born. Redheads have fewer strands of hair on their heads. If they both just have the gene but have brown hair lets say then there is a 1 in 4 chance of having a baby with red hair.
Previous studies had shown that redheads inherit two versions of the MC1R gene that leads to red hair – one from their mum and one from their dad. Although almost everyone with red hair has two copies of the red-haired version of MC1R, not everyone carrying two red-haired versions is a redhead.
Genetic testing can help identify if the parents are carriers of the MC1R gene and predict whether a child will have red hair. Apart from aesthetics, studies report that red-haired individuals could be at a higher risk for developing certain conditions like skin cancer and increased pain sensation.
Having red hair and blue eyes is the rarest hair/eye color combination possible. The odds of a person having both of those recessive traits is around 0.17%. Instead, most redheads have brown, hazel or green eyes, according to Medical Daily.
The rarest natural hair colour is red, which makes up only one to two percent of the global population. You commonly see these hair colours in western and northern areas of Europe, especially Scotland and Ireland. However, natural redheads may not exist for much longer.
Less than 2 percent of the world's population has red hair, making it the rarest hair color in the world. It's the result of the mutated MC1R gene. If both parents carry that gene, their child has a 25% chance of getting lovely, red locks, even if the parents don't have red hair themselves.
Since red hair is a recessive trait, the children of two redheaded parents will almost always be redheaded as well. In contrast, if only one parent is redheaded and the other has brown hair, there is a higher chance that the children will display the dominant trait and will have brown hair.
A ginger child can only be born if both parents carry the gene. If one parent doesn't carry the ginger gene, then your child will definitely not be ginger – both parents must carry it, whether they are redheads themselves or not.
If you have Irish or Scottish ancestry, the chances of your baby being born with red hair are more likely. This is especially true if both parents share this heritage. If not, it is very unlikely that your child will have fiery red locks or even red tones. But remember that red hair originated as a mutation.
Most redheads have red hair at birth, but did you know it's possible to become a redhead as you age? Red hair is carried in our genes. Both parents must carry the gene for a child to have red hair.
Red hair can change
Depending on the shade of red a baby has when it's born, it may stay a redhead or it may turn a different color. Most likely, the hair will always have some sort of red undertones to it. This may be only visible in the sun or may come out in other ways like in a man's beard.
Around 17 per cent of people have blue eyes, and when combined with 1-2 per cent having red hair, the odds of having both traits are around 0.17 per cent. That's 13 million people, out of the 7.6 billion on Earth. So with numbers this low, could redheads with blue eyes actually go extinct?
'It's extremely rare for people to have hair that is naturally a strawberry blonde color. Basically, strawberry blonde is mostly based on red tones, with blonde highlights dotted here and there. It takes its name from the Italian renaissance.
Strawberry blonde hair colour is a blend of light red and blonde hues. Strawberry blonde shades range from fiery reds to blonde hair with just a slight hint of red running through.
There's a little genetic tweak that makes the combination of red hair and blue eyes the rarest of them all.
Irish immigrants arriving in Australia looking for labour gained a reputation as heavy drinkers and fighters, with 'blue' being local slang for a fight. The term evolved to come to mean a redheaded Irishman.
One of the many facts about redheads is that their hair will never turn grey. The pigment in their hair that causes it to be red will just fade over time, causing their hair to turn blonde or white, but never grey.
The skin of a redhead is thinner compared to others and is derived from the ectoderm. Teeth enamel is also derived from the ectoderm and thus is thinner than usual. Since the enamel coating is thin, the inner layer of tooth-dentin is more visible and offers a yellowish appearance.
Ireland has the highest number of red-haired people per capita in the world, with the percentage of those with red hair at around 10%. Great Britain also has a high percentage of people with red hair.
While it may seem that only Caucasians have red hair, people from all races and ethnicities have ginger locks. It is more common in areas such as Northern Europe and specific parts of Russia. However, the genetic mutation has also spread throughout parts of South America, Asia, and Africa.
Contrary to what many people assume, redheads did not originate in Scandinavia, Scotland or Ireland, but in central Asia. Their coloring is due to a mutation in the MC1R gene that fails to produce sun-protective, skin-darkening eumelanin and instead causes pale skin, freckles and red hair.