Of deception, infertility and miracle babies

BongoBlast

“You reap what you sow,” is a pregnant statement that not only shows realities of life but also an undisputed and proven concept. When it comes to farmers, they know that they cannot sow seed maize and reap groundnuts. Nothing except a miracle will bring out such results.

In other words, an organism tends to reproduce one of its own kind and if anomalies are encountered, investigations and studies are usually instituted to determine the cause. Though there have been some crossbreeds, it is usually rare to get them using living organisms of the same kind.

In human procreation, the same concept applies and people reap what they sow. In other words there is no way a person can give birth to a puppy after being intimate with a fellow human being. Again human nature has it that where people of different races become intimate, they produce a child of mixed colours.

But, a new phenomenon that is seemingly proving too difficult to believe is emerging. The number of black couples having children with white skin and hair is increasing. The world is out of words as even scientists cannot explain the causes, though many people quickly dismiss it as infidelity on the part of the woman. This is cemented by the saying that mama ndiye anayemjua baba wa mtoto. So only the mother can tell us who the real father of the baby is.

There was shock across the whole of the United Kingdom as a couple received a white baby boy and this is the second time black parents gave birth to a white child within less than 12 months. The first white baby birth occurred in July 2010.

Francis and Arlette (parents of the second baby) like the earlier couple reported in July 2010, have no white relations or ancestry. The latter gave birth to a beautiful baby girl with pure blond hair while the former has received a healthy baby boy with physical features evidently of his parents apart from the skin colour and the blond hair.

In the first incident, the stunned black dad of the new-born, white, baby girl declared then that: "I’m sure she’s my kid . . . I just don’t know why she’s blonde."

Nmachi Ihegboro has amazed genetics experts who say the little girl is not an albino.

Dad Ben (44), a customer services adviser, admitted: "We both just sat there after the birth staring at her."

Mum Angela (35), of Woolwich, South London, beamed as she said: "She’s beautiful — a miracle baby." Ben told how he was so shocked when Nmachi was born, he even joked: "Is she mine?’’

He added: "Actually, the first thing I did was look at her and say, ‘What the flip?’" But as the baby’s older brother and sister — both black — crowded round the "little miracle" at their home in South London, Ben declared: "Of course she’s mine."

Blue-eyed blonde Nmachi, whose name means "Beauty of God" in the Nigerian couple’s homeland, has baffled genetics experts because neither Ben nor wife Angela has any mixed-race family history.

Pale genes skipping generations before cropping up again could have explained the baby’s appearance.

Ben also stressed: "My wife is true to me. Even if she hadn’t been, the baby still wouldn’t look like that.

These guys are too confident to say the least. I am not suggesting anything here dear reader, but to be confident of such things is something very difficult to stomach. Though there is something more than meets the eye, I just couldn't keep on imagining what would have happened if those children had been born at our own Muhimbili or any other local hospital. I don't even want to imagine what would have happened if they were to be born in one of the remotest parts of the country.

The first thing that us men, this side of the earth, would have done is to label the woman a prostitute, while at the same time denouncing paternity of the child. Some people would blame it on witchcraft while others will label it an abomination. I really don't know what to call it but as the saying goes, the one who knows the father of the baby is the woman.

With so much deception going on in this world, I would advise the men to go for DNA tests first before claiming that they are the fathers of the white children. If the DNA proves that they are the real fathers, then we can safely call them miracle babies.

Just as I have mentioned earlier, we have so many miracle babies in our society, where deception and lies force men to raise other people's children, under the pretext that they are theirs. This, however, turns disastrous once the truth is uncovered.

These babies are so common especially these days where fertility among men in Bongo is said to have dropped to shocking levels. Medical tests are said to be showing that 35 percent of those going for checkups are often diagnosed as barren. Doctors are attributing the rise in the rate of infertility in men to certain types of occupations as well as lifestyles in the fast changing and competitive world.

I think the government should make it mandatory for all men to undergo the testing. If that happens, we won't be surprised to find out that some men, who are currently boasting of having a full house, by having many children, including those from nyumba ndogos, are actually barren. What ever the miracle that would occur for them to end up having not only their wives but including small houses pregnant is something that will remain in need of answers.

Society is usually to blame for these miracle babies as soon after a couple weds, they begin counting and looking for signs of pregnancy. This puts a lot of pressure on the couple, especially women, some of whom are forced to look for miracle babies. This will be done to save face.

What most people forget is that, a man and woman get married, not because they want to have children, but because they love each other. Once people marry for the sake of having children or family then that family will not last. I believe that's why people are divorcing as if it's a competition.

Miracle babies are real and in most cases have helped to save shaky marriages. With each and everyone pointing the finger at a woman whenever a couple fails to have a child, most of them are left without a choice but to look for miracle babies. But with this day and age where HIV is ravaging the society, it becomes dangerous as besides getting a temporary solution to a marriage, miracle baby, one can also bring in another problem, HIV/AIDS.

It is the duty of society to protect and stop discriminating against couples who fail to have children. Failure to do that, then the problem of miracle babies will stay with us for a long time. God bless you!

bongoblast@thisday.co.tz