His wife gave birth to white baby and he burst into tears when he discovered that …

It’s impossible for Ms. Harris, a marketing executive from Selly Oak, Birmingham, to go down the street with Lily without someone making a passing observation. People simply don’t believe Lily is my daughter since she appears to be so dissimilar to me. When she was very small, it didn’t bother me too much.

However, as Lily has gotten older, this has become more of an issue for her. Before I had Lily, I didn’t realize how strongly we all identify ourselves with being white or black, and the dilemma now is that Lily comes from a black family yet appears to be of white skin tone. Why don’t we look alike, mommy? she wonders all the time.

I explain to her that she’s of mixed ethnicity, but she finds it really perplexing. Ms. Harris, who is estranged from her daughter’s father, had hoped to give birth to a child with dark skin and afro hair, according to her doctor. Black skin is typically dominant, and my family, which is descended from Jamaica, is predominantly black, she explains.

But at the very least, I imagined Lily to be a hybrid of Michael and my own characteristics. I was so taken aback by her birth that I asked the midwife, is she mine? after she was delivered. I couldn’t get over the fact that she was so pale and had blue eyes.

Doctors said that there was a one-in-a-million possibility that Lily was white and that it was possible that my family had a white gene that had been dormant until now. Since then, mom and daughter have been the subject of a barrage of questions and comments wherever they go. The authors read about white infants being born to black mothers previously, but the child retains the mother’s afro hair and facial traits, which Lily does not have.

Her hair is naturally longer and straighter than most. I’m getting a little tired of having to explain that she’s my daughter. Even doctors and instructors, on the other hand, appear perplexed.

For example, when I recently went to our doctor’s office, the doctor asked if I was Lily’s social worker or guardian, which I confirmed with her. I told him firmly that I was Lily’s mother, and he was visibly uncomfortable and apologized excessively. This happens all the time, I said.

When Lily entered school, she had to overcome a significant obstacle. When Lily came out of class and called out mom to me, I understood what these mothers who didn’t know me were thinking, that Lily needed to be taken in by a family. Because my mother, other daughter, Aisha, and I are all of a darker skin tone, the situation is even more evident when I go out with them…