How Is Eye Color Passed Down From Parent to Offspring?

Dominant Eye Colors

• The brown color is dominant when it comes to eye color, according to Blinn College. Each person carries two genes for eye color, according to HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology. If a person has one or two brown-eye color genes, he will have brown eyes. In the event that he has one brown eye color gene, he might still pass the second eye color gene onto a child. It is therefore possible for two brown-eyed parents to have a child who has brown, green, blue, gray or hazel eyes.

Recessive Eye Colors

• The recessive eye colors are blue, gray, hazel and green, according to Blinn College. In order to have a blue-eyed child, parents will need to carry at least one gene each for blue eyes, according to Stanford University's Tech Museum of Innovation. The parents themselves might have any eye color, including brown. The same is also true for parents hoping to have a child who has gray, green or hazel eyes.

Conditions That May Affect Eye Color

• Some genetic conditions affect a child's eye color. People who have heterochromia might have two differently colored eyes, according to the U.S. National Library of Medicine. Newborns usually have blue or gray eyes, though their eyes might become brown or another color up until a year later, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics. Another condition, albinism, is a hereditary condition that can cause the eyes to appear blue, pink or red, according to KidsHealth.

Additional Help

• If you have questions or concerns about your child's eye color, ask her pediatrician. In some cases, unusual eye colors such as heterochromia could signify other potential health problems, according to the U.S. National Library of Medicine. If a child's eye color changes later in life, or more than a year after birth, you might want to ask your child's doctor for his opinion.