Why you don’t resemble your father

Many couples have fought and even ended up in a divorce due to their children’s appearance “this child is not mine, look at his eyes and waist they resemble that of so and so, tell me the truth”… There is no need of speculations whether the child is yours on not, the fact is he/can resemble you or not due to genetic predispositions.

Saturday, October 16, 2010

Many couples have fought and even ended up in a divorce due to their children’s appearance "this child is not mine, look at his eyes and waist they resemble that of so and so, tell me the truth”… There is no need of speculations whether the child is yours on not, the fact is he/can resemble you or not due to genetic predispositions.

 It has been known for years that traits such as eye color and hair color are determined by specific genes encoded in each human cell.

We inherit (genetic) characteristics and tendencies that influence development. Some inherited characteristics appear in virtually everyone. For instance, almost all children have the capacity to learn to walk, understand language, imitate others, use simple tools, and draw inferences about how other people view the world.

Thus all children have a set of universal human genes that, when coupled with a reasonable environment, permit them to develop as reasonably capable members of the human species.

Other kinds of genes create differences among people. Children’s stature, eye color, and facial appearance are largely determined by genes. Children’s temperament—their characteristic ways of responding to emotional events, novel stimuli, and their own impulses—seems to be in part affected by their individual genetic makeup.

Similarly, being slow or quick to learn from instruction and everyday experiences has some genetic basis
Inherited characteristics and tendencies are not always evident at birth.

Many physical features emerge gradually through the process of maturation, the genetically guided changes that occur over the course of development.

Environmental support, such as food, reasonably safe and toxin-free surroundings, and responsive care from others, is necessary for maturation to take place; nature never works alone.

Our appearance could be as a result of the genes that are dominant or recessive from our parents or even from our grandfathers and relatives. Due to these genetic make ups a child may or may not resemble his parents.

Turning our attention to the child resembling one of its parents, this is also confirmed by the prophetic hadîth. The child may sometimes resemble his father, his mother, one of his uncles, his grandparents, or none of them.

In brief, the factors governing the child’s resembling one parent, grandparent, or even coming with new attributes that do not belong to any of his relatives.

Modern medicine is still ignorant of many of the determining factors that bring about how much a child will resemble either of its parents.

Ends