A black couple told yesterday of their shock and  mystification when their son was 𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐧 with white skin and blond hair.

Francis Tshibangu admitted:  ‘My first thought was “Wow, is he really mine?”.’

He and his wife Arlette already have a two-year-old boy, Seth, whose features reflect his African parentage.

Black and white family: Francis and Arlette with Seth and Daniel

But it is thought that 𝑏𝑎𝑏𝑦 Daniel, now 11 weeks old, has a slight genetic mutation. He is not an albino.

Congo-𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐧 Mr Tshibangu, 28, said his ‘jaw dropped open’ when Daniel arrived at Leicester Royal Infirmary.

‘I was too stunned to speak and I could see the doctors looking at each other, thinking the 𝑏𝑎𝑏𝑦 couldn’t be mine.

‘Then Arlette and I looked at each other and smiled and I knew he was. I have been with my wife for three years and there was never a question of infidelity, but seeing his white skin was a surprise to say the least.’

Mr Tshibangu, a sociology student, added: ‘The initial reaction from the nurses must have been that Arlette had had an affair. Their faces were a picture, but then I’m sure mine was too.

‘When I bent down and kissed him I got a better look at his features and could see he looked just like me and Arlette. He has my nose and my wife’s lips.

Leicester Royal Infirmary: Mr Tshibangu says both he and the doctors were stunned by the 𝐛𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐡

‘All we can say is that Daniel is our miracle and, though we are shocked by his white skin, we feel very blessed. He’s beautiful.’

His 25-year-old wife added: ‘The reaction in the operating theatre  was one of shocked silence, myself included.

‘I stared at Daniel with my eyes wide. The looks on the faces of  the doctors and nurses said it all.  Everyone was wondering why I had a white 𝑏𝑎𝑏𝑦.

‘But as the nurse put his little pink body in my arms I bonded with him instantly. When I looked at him all I felt was love.

‘Like any mum who has just given 𝐛𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐡, my main concern was that he was healthy, which he is.’

Mr Tshibangu added: ‘I know there will be some who say my wife has had an affair but I trust her completely and know that isn’t the case.

‘Even if she’d had an affair with  a white man, you would expect a mixed-race 𝑏𝑎𝑏𝑦 with black hair, not a white 𝑏𝑎𝑏𝑦 with soft blond hair like little Daniel.’

Mr Tshibangu, who has lived in Britain for ten years, met his future wife on a return visit to the Congo in 2007. They married a year later and settled near Loughborough.

Arlette qualified as a doctor in Africa and, while she is currently working as a part-time shop assistant, she hopes to practise medicine in the UK.

The couple believe Daniel could be a throwback to Arlette’s great-great-great-grandmother, who is also thought to have given 𝐛𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐡 to a white 𝑏𝑎𝑏𝑦. But Mr Tshibangu said: ‘That was six generations ago and we don’t even know if that was true.’

He added: ‘You can see people looking at us thinking, “What are that black couple doing with that white 𝑏𝑎𝑏𝑦?” I am sure there are a few people who think we have stolen him.

‘But to us, his skin colour isn’t important. The most important thing is that we have a healthy little boy who we love very much.’

Source: dailymail