A Canadian photographer gave birth to twins several years ago, saying that she was stunned when she saw them: one was black and the other has albinism.
Nwokocha said she and her husband struggled for eight years before her successful pregnancy and birth in 2016.
“Most people don’t believe they’re twins,” she said. “It’s also [Kachi’s] hair texture that confuses them. Someone has asked me, ‘Where are her parents?’”
She added, “I can see the look of shock in their faces when I tell them I’m her mother.”
The beaming mother said she never had any bad comments about her children.
“I haven’t had any negative reaction from anyone, they always tell me she is beautiful,” she said.
Elaborating further on Kachi, she said that “she was very small” and “stopped growing.”
“I remember the doctors telling me she might not make it. I’m so grateful she did,” Nwokocha said.
Upon delivery, she said, “I was shocked. I thought they had handed me somebody else’s baby, I didn’t believe she was mine. It never crossed my mind I was going to have an albino baby, we don’t have any in my family, nor my husband’s family.”
“It was a real shock for me, I was thinking, ‘What are they doing, why did they give me someone else’s baby?’” she asked, wondering if the child could really be someone else’s.
She then realized, “Other than the fact that she is different color, she looks exactly like me,” according to the report.
The Mail reported that she was diagnosed with Oculocutaneous Albinism (OCA) type 2, which is inherited. It affects the eyes, skin, and hair.
“It took me a while to realize I’m going to be raising an albino. I was really concerned about what people were going to say, it’s not a very usual thing to have an albino and a black baby,” Nwokocha said. “I was also sad, I was worried about how she’s going to go through society, how people are going to treat her. It didn’t affect my affection or love at all of course.”
She said her daughter is smart with a strong personality.
Albinism
The Mayo Clinic says that albinism is a “group of inherited disorders where there is little or no production of the pigment melanin.”“Signs of albinism are usually apparent in a person’s skin, hair and eye color, but sometimes differences are slight. People with albinism are also sensitive to the effects of the sun, so they’re at increased risk of developing skin cancer,” the website says. “Although there’s no cure for albinism, people with the disorder can take steps to protect their skin and eyes and maximize their vision.”
For some, their skin color never changes.
But for others, the body will begin to produce melanin “during childhood and the teen years, resulting in slight changes in pigmentation,” the Mayo Clinic says.
“Hair color can range from very white to brown. People of African or Asian descent who have albinism may have hair color that’s yellow, reddish or brown. Hair color may also darken by early adulthood or stain from exposure to normal minerals in water and the environment, and appear darker with age,” it says.
Meanwhile, some people with the condition also have vision impairment.
