More on Samuel

So, I wanted to share a little more today about a skin condition that our little guy Samuel has. The condition is called albinism. You may have heard the term ‘albino’. This is a skin condition in which each parent has the albinism gene, and when put together these genes cause albinism in a child. Specifically, it is a condition in which the skin has lack of pigment, as well as the hair/eyebrows, and sometimes the eyes (causing a blueish color). With Samuel, his skin is about a shade lighter than other Ghanaians, and his hair and eyebrows are very light. His eyes are brown. I asked Yaw if he knew of anyone in Ghana with this condition and he said, yes, there are quite a few there. He mentioned that they look ‘orange’. And, he also mentioned that their hair is orange. Hmmmmm…. the Sullivan household sure doesn't know anything about orange hair, do we?!?!?! In fact, at a tournament two weekends ago I had 2 people come up to me and ask where JJ and Jayla got their orange hair from….they didn’t say red, they said orange! From Samuel’s picture you can easily see an orange tint in his hair, and a bit in his skin. You know, I think it is quite unique that God would bring us an African child with orange hair. What exactly are the chances of that? After I mentioned this to one of my friends the other day she said ‘God is concerned with every little detail, isn’t he?’ I guess so! Anyways, this is not the skin disease which affected Michael Jackson in which the skin keeps getting lighter and lighter (that was Jake’s question). It is simply just a skin condition in which the skin has lost pigment. Our case worker sent us a great article on albinism. Here are some excerpts:

To understand albinism, you need to first know about melanin. Melanin is a chemical in our bodies that colors our skin, eyes, and hair. Sometimes, a child might be born whose body can't make a normal amount of melanin. This is what happens with albinism, which can show up as a lack of pigment (color) in the skin, eyes, & hair of that child. There are different kinds of albinism. Some children with albinism might have pale skin or hair. Other types of albinism might affect only the eyes.

Most children with albinism have blue eyes, and others have brownish eyes. In some cases of albinism, a child’s eyes might appear pink or reddish. This isn't because the iris (the colored part of the eye) is pink or red. It's because the iris actually has very little color. The eyes appear pink or red because the blood vessels inside of the eye (on the retina) show through the iris. Some children with albinism wear glasses or contact lenses to help them see better. Others might need eye surgery. Another problem for children with albinism is that their eyes can be very sensitive to light.

Albinism is caused by a person's genes. Everyone has two sets of genes. Half of your genes are from your dad, and half are from your mom. Sometimes, a mom and a dad might carry an "albinism gene" but not show any signs of albinism themselves. But they might have a child who has albinism. How can that be? Well, this happens because each parent has a normal pigment gene and an albinism gene. For a child to have albinism, the dad's albinism gene and the mom's albinism gene both have to get passed on to the child.

But if a child gets an albinism gene from one parent and a normal pigment gene from the other, the child won't have albinism. Instead, the child will be a "carrier" of an albinism gene — which means he or she would have one normal pigment gene and one albinism gene. So, if that child grows up and has a child with someone who is also a carrier of an albinism gene, there would be a chance that their child might have albinism.

Click on the following link to read the article in its entirety:
http://kidshealth.org/kid/health_problems/skin/albinism.html

So there you have it, everything you ever needed to know about albinism!