Black parents end up with an albino child with red hair (6 photos + 1 video)
Vivienne Temitope Hassan, 24, was shocked when she saw her baby Zain. He was born in March 2023 with albinism. Despite the fact that Vivienne and her husband are black, the child has white skin and red hair. Vivien now dyes her hair so Zayn “doesn’t feel left out.” 
Vivien and her husband Ezike Ebota, who became parents for the first time, say there is not a single case of albinism among their relatives.
At three months old, the hair on the back of Zain's head began to turn red, and by September he had a full head of red hair, inspiring Vivienne to dye her own.
Zain is now 10 months old and happy and healthy. His only problem with albinism is his eyes' sensitivity to light.
“When the midwives first handed Zain to me, I was shocked and happy at the same time,” says Vivienne. “At first I doubted whether his health was okay. I asked the doctors a lot of questions and they said it could take a few weeks for his melanin to show up. Some Nigerian babies are born fair and then turn dark, but with Zain everything remains the same.”
“I started dying my hair his color so he wouldn’t feel left out, and it’s a lot of fun! We certainly attract a lot of attention when we go out in public, but people are generally curious, and I'm happy to talk about Zain's condition. He's such a naturally happy and friendly kid and I don't blame people for being drawn to him."
Albinism is an inherited condition in which a person has very light skin, hair and eyes because their body contains less melanin than normal.
Zain's hair change came as a shock to Vivien as doctors had not warned her about it, but after searching on Google, she calmed down and was convinced that it was normal.
Albinism also means Zayn is very sensitive to light, so Vivienne applies a thick layer of sunscreen to his skin and makes sure to cover him with a hat when they go outside in the daylight.
“We didn’t know much about albinism,” says Vivien. “I didn’t care what my son looked like.” For us, he was already wonderful, but we thought more about what Zain's health might be like in the future. He can't see people in the distance, and when he goes outside, I put sunscreen on his skin. We will monitor his vision as he grows because melanin levels affect retinal development. When we go out as a family, people look at us. I don't blame them because we are two black people with a white child. Some even ask if he is a doll. Fortunately, we did not encounter any hostile attitude in real life. Alas, on the Internet - yes. I had to grow a thick skin to protect myself from online trolls.”
“People online said that my husband and I shouldn’t have any more children, accused us of glorifying albinism and even claimed that Ezike is not Zain’s father. At first it hurt me and I almost deleted my TikTok account. But I couldn't let some evil strangers steal my joy. Zain is such a beautiful child and I love the little community we have created to spread awareness about albinism. We didn't know much about the disease when we got it, and I like to think we can help other parents."
“It’s terrible that people write about an innocent child, but now I just block and delete messages if I think it’s necessary. People on the internet are accusing me of coloring Zain's hair, which is crazy because he's still a toddler. I love matching my hair color to Zayn's. Maybe one day I'll make my husband do the same."
