When the midwife presented Catherine Howarth with her new baby, she was convinced she’d been given the wrong child.
The little boy was completely white – whereas new mum Catherine has the dark black skin of her Nigerian heritage.
For
even though baby Jonah has a white father, doctors say the chances of
him being white too were an incredible one in a million.
And it wasn’t only the “miracle” baby’s mum who was stunned.
“The midwife looked at me and looked back down at Jonah and then at me again and couldn’t believe it,” said Catherine, 32.
“The doctors confirmed it was extremely rare.”
Her
husband Richard, 34, a medical recruitment consultant, was equally
astonished. He had expected his son, who was born at Milton Keynes
Hospital on June 1, to have darker skin.
He said: “When I first set eyes on my baby boy Jonah, it was a
feeling of pure delight and relief that he was healthy and strong. His
complexion was very pale due to the umbilical cord being wrapped around
his neck when he was being delivered.
“After a few hours his
colour came to his cheeks. Catherine and I noticed his complexion was
very similar to mine and were surprised it was as light. The midwives
and doctors told us he’ll most likely remain this colour.”
Financial
analyst Catherine said: “Some children get darker after a few weeks
when the skin colour they will have for life starts to become obvious.
But you can see from the colour at the tips of their ears what that will
be. We saw straight away that Jonah was fully white.”
Doctors have said he is not an albino.
“We have been told that I must have been carrying a recessive gene,” said Catherine.
“My parents were from Nigeria and, for as far back as anyone can remember, my family have all been black.
Special boy: Jonah looks equally baffled
“But at some point there must have been a white gene in my family that has remained dormant for years and years – until now.
“The doctors said they had researched the chances of this happening and discovered that it was very, very rare.
“They had only found two similar cases, both in America, that had been reported in recent times.”
Catherine
and Richard, from Milton Keynes, plan to have more children but have
been told the chances of them also being born white are highly unlikely.
Jonah’s remarkable colour follows the birth in 2010 of Nmachi Ihegboro, who is white despite having two black parents.
Nine
years ago, mixed-race couple Kylie Hodgson, 27, and Remi Horder, 25,
from Nottingham, became parents to twin daughters – one white and one
black.
Yesterday, delighted Catherine said: “Despite the initial
shock, Richard and I couldn’t be happier. Jonah is a beautiful, happy
and smiling son, and I adore him.”
And Richard said: “The colour of his skin is of no concern – Jonah being a healthy and happy baby is what matters.”
"The waking-up process has begun and will take
until Tuesday," a source told the newspaper. "There is real concern that
the part of the brain that controls motor skills may have been
compromised, leaving her as either a vegetable or in a wheelchair."
The insider also added that the comedian's family is considering a
possible lawsuit against Yorkville Endoscopy, where Rivers, 81, had been
undergoing a procedure on her throat when she stopped breathing on
Thursday. Rivers was then rushed to Mount Sinai hospital where she was
reportedly put on life support.
Rivers' family is staying optimistic. "We are keeping our fingers crossed," her daughter Melissa said in a statement on Sunday.
In this Aug. 26, 2014 photo,
Police Col. Decha Promsuwan, an investigator in a surrogacy scandal
involving a Japanese businessman, shows documents during an interview at
Lumpini police station in Bangkok,Thailand. Wassana, a young Thai
woman, answered an online ad offering $10,000 for surrogate mothers and
is now embroiled in the case of a mysterious Japanese man, Mitsutoki
Shigeta, who police say fathered at least 16 children through
surrogates. The case has captivated Thailand and is at the center of a
growing scandal over commercial surrogacy, an industry that thrived on
semi-secrecy and legal loopholes that the country's military government
now vows to ban. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
BANGKOK (AP) — Police
say Japanese businessman Mitsutoki Shigeta followed nine key steps on
his path to fathering 16 surrogate babies in Thailand, born starting in
June 2013. It's unclear whether he went through all of the steps for
every baby; four are in Cambodia and the rest remain in Thailand. Here's
how he did it:
1. Shigeta hired surrogacy scouts and a fertility doctor in Bangkok.
2. The doctor's fertility clinic handled implantation of the embryos.
3.
The clinic handled prenatal care and deliveries of the babies spread
out at nine Bangkok hospitals. The babies, all born via cesarean
section, include four sets of twins.
4. Newborns were taken to a Bangkok condominium owned by Shigeta, where nannies cared for them.
5. Birth certificates were issued from at least five district offices in Bangkok.
6. The babies' names were registered at the address of Shigeta's Bangkok condominium.
7.
Shigeta went to juvenile and family court to get custody from the
surrogate mothers, some of whom told police they were instructed to lie
about having an affair with Shigeta to facilitate the transfer of
custody.
8. District offices issued documents stating that he is the biological father and has custody.
9. Those documents were used to issue the babies' passports.
Professor Jiro
Yasuda and his team at Nagasaki University say their process is also
cheaper than the system currently in use in west Africa where the virus
has already killed more than 1,500 people.
"The
new method is simpler than the current one and can be used in countries
where expensive testing equipment is not available," Yasuda told AFP by
telephone.
"We have yet to receive any questions or requests, but we are pleased to offer the system, which is ready to go," he said.
Yasuda
said the team had developed what he called a "primer", which amplifies
only those genes specific to the Ebola virus found in a blood sample or
other bodily fluid.
Using
existing techniques, ribonucleic acid (RNA) -- biological molecules used
in the coding of genes -- is extracted from any viruses present in a
blood sample.
This is then
used to synthesise the viral DNA, which can be mixed with the primers
and then heated to 60-65 degrees Celsius (140-149 Fahrenheit).
If
Ebola is present, DNA specific to the virus is amplified in 30 minutes
due to the action of the primers. The by-products from the process cause
the liquid to become cloudy, providing visual confirmation, Yasuda
said.
Currently, a method
called polymerase chain reaction, or PCR, is widely used to detect the
Ebola virus, which requires doctors to heat and cool samples repeatedly
and takes up to two hours.
"The
new method only needs a small, battery-powered warmer and the entire
system costs just tens of thousands of yen (hundreds of dollars), which
developing countries should be able to afford," he added.
The
outbreak of the Ebola virus, transmitted through contact with infected
bodily fluids, has sparked alarm throughout western Africa and further
afield.
Don’t you hate that awkward tension after an argument? You know, the
one that people don’t really talk about? You’re not even annoyed
anymore, but there’s just this awkward silence and you can’t quite seem
to snap back into normality.
You wonder whether your partner is still annoyed, or whether they too
are hovering in limbo between arguing and normality. Neither partner
wants to be the first to move, talk, or make eye contact. And neither
partner’s true intentions are clear.
It can be pretty frustrating. The argument is over, so why is it so
difficult to move on? In submitting ourselves to this strange state of
post-argument awkwardness, we are extending the negativity, when we
could be enjoying our relationships in the way that we should be!
Arguments are bad enough as is, without extending it by a couple of
hours of awkward silences. We need to learn to resolve and move on from
arguments quickly and efficiently, so that we don’t waste our time
needlessly on confusions, egos or frustrations.
Try out these 8 tips that will allow you and your partner to heal and
snap back quickly after an argument, so both of you can enjoy each
other’s company once again!
#1 Avoid arguing in the first place
I think we can all agree that most arguments we have are just plain
silly and a few days later, you often struggle to remember what it was
that caused the disagreement in the first place! So is it really worth
arguing in the first place?
Don’t allow verbal aggression to be your first instinct when a
disagreement arises. It is possible to discuss an issue WITHOUT being
aggressive, and quite often, the issue is resolved much quicker because
you are in a much more rational state of mind.
Take a deep breath and control your temper. Listen to what the other
person has to say without interrupting. Reflect on their opinion and
don’t overreact. Even if you are the only one who is handling the
situation in this way, your partner is likely to follow your lead soon
enough.
#2 Let go and don’t hold a grudge
Often, tension is caused after an argument because we don’t allow
ourselves to let the disagreement go. When we sit in silence, we are
quite often continuing to justify our own side of the argument in our
minds.
Remember that neither arguing nor holding a grudge is worth your
time. You can make the decision to choose a positive mindset. Even if
something has annoyed or upset you, or if the argument hasn’t been fully
resolved, let it go. It is never as important as you think it is at
that time. In the grand scheme of things, your happiness and the health
of your relationship are much more important. And they will thrive if
you don’t let every negative experience get to you and cling to you.
Forget it and move on.
#3 Don’t overanalyze the argument
After an argument, we often feel the need to justify our reactions
and examine the root of the argument. Going over the causes of
disagreement, and clearing up misunderstandings is helpful to a certain
degree. But on the flip side, it won’t allow you to move on and return
to normalcy.
What’s more, it runs the risk of reigniting the argument. So, be
cautious and keep it to a minimum. Accept that arguments and
misunderstandings happen, and if it doesn’t need to be discussed
further, then don’t! Banish the awkward silence, and focus on returning
to normalcy as quickly as possible, and that should be your main
priority.
#4 Make a physical show of affection
Sometimes, we sit in silence after an argument because we’ve simply
had enough of using words. Don’t forget the old saying: actions speak
louder than words. Show your partner that all is forgotten by displaying
a gesture of affection.
Even if one of you are still clenching teeth, introducing intimacy
will instantly break the tension and allow both of you to heal after the
argument. There is a reason why “make up sex” exists! Intimacy allows
you to express your love, and afterwards, everything is forgotten. #5 Apologize and admit where you were wrong
We all say things that we regret in the heat of the moment, and
often, arguments arise because we have completely misunderstood the
intensions of the other person’s actions or words. What’s more, it is
very unusual that only one person is in the wrong. In fact, an argument
is usually a combination of both of your wrongs or misunderstandings!
You have most likely spent the majority of the argument explaining to
your partner why they are wrong, it is now important to recognize where
YOU were wrong and apologize. It will often initiate the other person
to do the same. You may want to save face and avoid damaging your ego,
but by stepping up and apologizing, it will provide closure to the
argument and will allow both of you to move on.
#6 Break awkward silences with a positive topic of conversation
Don’t let post-argument awkward silences go on longer than they have
to. The longer it goes on, the harder it is to break out of it.
The best thing you can do is to take a deep breath and pretend
nothing happened. Pick a positive topic of conversation or make small
talk. It may seem slightly false and awkward to start with for the first
couple of minutes, but anything is better than an awkward silence!
You’ll be surprised how quickly your conversation will revert to the
norm.
#7 Try a change of environment
It is easy to remain steadfast in the exact same physical position as
you were when you were arguing. No one wants to be the first to make a
move into continuing with normal life.
Bite the bullet and suggest a change of scenery. Perhaps go for a
coffee, or out to dinner. Often, a change of environment, especially to a
more social environment like a coffee shop or restaurant, will
immediately change the atmosphere between the both of you.
#8 Acknowledge the tension
When there is tension after a fight, it is hard to tell whether the
other person is feeling as awkward as you are or whether they are still
annoyed. And they are probably wondering the exact same thing!
Let them know that you aren’t annoyed, and most importantly, let your
partner know just how much you hate the tension and the silence after a
fight. More often than not, they will be relieved that you’re feeling
the same way. Once you’ve both acknowledged that the fight is over, you
can both make a decision to move on.
If you want to nip the bad boy in the bud and walk out of the
relationship before it hurts you or breaks you, just keep an eye on
these 22 early warning signs of a bad boyfriend.
And if you do find your boyfriend in the wrong here, communicate with
him so he can realize what he’s doing. After all, it’s easy to take
something important for granted. But if he still continues to hurt you
through his behavior, perhaps it’s time to walk out for good.
#1 He takes time. He often doesn’t answer your calls
immediately even if he isn’t at work. And he always takes a lot of time
to text you or call you back even when he’s not busy.
#2 He takes you for granted. He takes you and your gestures
for granted. He just expects you to be sweet and helpful all the time,
and he never reciprocates anything you do.
#3 No time for you. He doesn’t have time for you, but always
has time for his friends and other activities. He’s active on facebook
playing silly games, but he doesn’t have time to call you or meet you.
He makes plans with you and cancels them often. And he always has a
convincing excuse no matter what accusation you make.
#4 All he wants to do is make out. Every time both of you
meet, all he wants to do is make out. He gets annoyed if you just want
to talk or hang out doing something else.
#5 He’s emotionally closed off. An early sign of a bad
boyfriend is his disinterest in talking about the future or his
feelings. He says he likes living in the present, but still makes future
plans about everything else but the relationship. #6 He has a lot of secrets. And most of these secrets have
names of different girls. He may be chatting with them on social
networks or speaking with them over the phone now and then. And even if
you ask him who these girls are or how he knows them, he just brushes
the conversation off or avoids talking about them. #7 He’s controlling and manipulative. He’s seems very
concerned about you and always tries to advise you on how you should
lead your life. And as helpful as he seems, somehow you feel very
stifled and suffocated in the relationship.
#8 He’s in touch with his ex. Does your boyfriend stay
actively in touch with his ex, even though there’s no reason to? Both of
them don’t work together, nor do they meet as friends in a group, but
yet, he insists they’re good friends. And surprisingly, he doesn’t seem
enthusiastic about you joining them each time he meets his ex. They’re
just friends, right?
#9 He’s a smooth late night talker. He regularly talks to
another girl almost every night, late into the night. This may be
harmless to begin with, but late night conversations between attractive
members of the opposite sex almost always have a way of going down the
lane of flirty friends or emotional affairs. And it’s best avoided.
Tell him you’re not comfortable with the idea of him talking
regularly to another girl late at night. If he cares enough about you,
he’d understand your fear. #10 It’s always about him. Your boyfriend’s conversations
always revolve around him and his problems. He’s not bothered about your
problems or your life, and always cuts the conversation or changes the
subject when you talk about yourself. #11 He blames you. He blames you for his mistakes,
shortcomings and failures at every chance he gets. “If only I hadn’t met
you last night, I could have finished my work today!”
They reportedly split last month, but things certainly seem to be heating up again for Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez.
The on/off couple spent their Sunday afternoon poolside at Jeremy
Bieber’s home in Stratford, Ontario during their romantic trip in
Justin’s native Canada.
No doubt the 20-year-old Baby singer felt comfortable at his father’s
house as he opted to go shirtless as Selena, aged 22, cuddled up behind
him.
With their romance very much rekindled, the couple took every
opportunity to get intimate with one another as Selena sat on the red
chair while rubbing the Beauty And The Beat singer’s back.
The pair definitely seem to be enjoying their time in the Great White
North as they enjoyed recreational outings including ATV and horseback
riding.
They have been on the holiday for a few days now as Justin posted a
picture of he and Selena on what appeared to be a private jet on
Wednesday.
The longtime couple got married this past Saturday August 30th in Miami.
The boys are Dwyane's sons from his first marriage, and another
relative he adopted. Cute couple. Congrats to them
Jay Z watches as the stack of $2 bills he tossed into the air rains down on the rowdy crowd at the Steve Aoki show at Made in America.
Too enraptured with Aoki throwing cakes and showering them with
champagne, the festival-goers thought little of what the unexpected
money signified on Saturday night. All they knew was that it's Jay Z's
music festival, and he could do whatever he wanted to do.
But the $2 bills, in fact, have a mysterious history in the music
industry. The sightings of the uncommon paper money can be attributed to
one wealthy lawyer: Mr. Steven Reisman, a human $2 bill dispensary for
the stars in the hip-hop and rap world.
Reisman also apparently spent Saturday before sundown handing out his trademark item:
Yooooo I'm officially official I got my 2 dollar bills from the 2 dollar bill guy!Earlier this year, Complex investigated these $2 bill
appearances,which started popping up at concerts and in celebrities'
Instagram photos, linking everything back to Reisman:
A 5-year-old girl was beat up on a playground at
school so bad, that she sustained severe injuries. The incident happened
Tuesday in Pascagoula, Mississippi. Gulf Live reports that thestudent is Avalynn,
as indicated on social media sites. Her mother, Lacey Harris, filed a
police report Thursday alleging that another child kicked her daughter
on the slide. Pascagoula Police Department Lt. Jim Roe says at this time
“there’s no indication something criminal took place. I have spoken
with school security and an assistant superintendent is investigating
the matter.”
As photos clearly show, Avalynn has a number of contusions on her
eyes and to the right-side of her face. She has excessive swelling that
prevents her right eye from opening. The top of her lip is swollen as
well.
