Albinism is the “congenital absence of any pigmentation or coloration in a person, animal or plant, resulting in white hair, feathers, scales and skin and pink eyes in mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and fish and other small invertebrates as well.”Varied use and interpretation of the terms mean that written reports of albinistic animals can be difficult to verify.

For ages, Judith had a feeling that she would struggle to become pregnant. There wasn’t a medical explanation for this — it was simply a niggling fear.

She and her husband struggled to believe they would ever become parents after years went by without her becoming pregnant. “I found myself getting anxious and desperate,” Judith first wrote on Love What Matters.

“The fear remained no matter how hard I tried to stay positive. However, Eight years down the line, my husband and I decided to go for our second round of IVF. The first of which failed, as well as other various procedures and fertility treatments. Every ultrasound visit after that was horror”
Judith

The couple could hardly contain their joy when that second round of IVF proved successful.

Judith was carrying twins — a boy, Kamis, and a girl, Kachi.

It felt remarkable that after all these years, their aspirations and dreams of a family were about to be real.

However, mum’s joy quickly turned to horror as doctors broke the news that Kachi was “at risk and might not make it”. “Every ultrasound visit after that was a nightmare as Kachi was far behind in growth whiles Kamsi did great.

“Finally, at 37 weeks, I had to be induced immediately because I was told that Kachi had stopped growing..” After the birth Nurses let Judith hold her daughter briefly before she was whisked to the NICU.

“The first time I saw her, I wondered if the nurse was handing me my baby, or someone else’s,” Judith said. “I waited a few seconds for someone to tell me there was a mix-up?” “Soon the joy of seeing them both healthy surpassed any other feeling at that instant.”
“How did I get black and white twins?”

Several days later Judith and her husband were told that their baby girl had albinism.

“I loved my princess like every mother would love her baby but worried about her condition,” Judith said.
“I worried about her future, how society would treat her, how she’ll be accepted.
“Gradually, worry turned to sadness and I started questioning “I envied other black babies and thought, ‘Why me? Why was I the one to have an albino baby?’
“How did I get black and white twins?”
“I threw the braille sheets in the garbage”

Unfortunately, medical professionals were quick to affirm Judith’s worst fears and told her that Kachi would struggle to see and would likely need to learn to read braille.

“I couldn’t imagine Kachi reading with braille and threw the braille sheets in the garbage.” She said

“She’s so smart and has a strong personality. She knows what she wants and will always go for it.
“I always tell her how beautiful she is, because she really is.
“I’m not sure she`s aware of her uniqueness at the moment, but eventually she’ll know.”
“It’s my responsibility to educate her and teach her to love herself no matter what.

Albinism

Albinism affects the production of melanin, the pigment that colours skin, hair and eyes. It’s a lifelong condition, but it doesn’t get worse over time.

People with albinism have a reduced amount of melanin, or no melanin at all. This can affect their colouring and their eyesight.

Albinism is caused by faulty genes that a child inherits from their parents.

Symptoms of albinism

Hair and skin colour

People with albinism often have white or very light blonde hair, although some have brown or ginger hair. The exact colour depends on how much melanin their body produces.

Very pale skin that burns easily in the sun and doesn’t usually tan is also typical of albinism.

Eye colour

Someone with albinism can have pale blue, grey or brown eyes. Eye colour depends on the type of albinism and the amount of melanin. People from ethnic groups with darker pigmentation tend to have darker coloured eyes.

Eye problems

The reduced amount of melanin can also cause other eye problems. This is because melanin is involved in the development of the retina, the thin layer of cells at the back of the eye.

Possible eye problems linked to albinism include:

poor eyesight — either short-sightedness or long-sightedness, and low vision (sight loss that can’t be corrected)
astigmatism — where the cornea (clear layer at the front of the eye) isn’t perfectly curved or the lens is an abnormal shape, causing blurred vision
photophobia — where the eyes are sensitive to light
nystagmus — where the eyes move involuntarily from side to side, causing reduced vision; you don’t see the world as “wobbling” because your brain adapts to your eye movement
squint — where the eyes point in different directions

Some young children with albinism may appear clumsy because problems with their eyesight can make it difficult for them to perform certain movements, such as picking up an object. This should improve as they get older.

How albinism is inherited

The two main types of albinism are:

oculocutaneous albinism (OCA) — the most common type, affecting the skin, hair and eyes
ocular albinism (OA) — a rarer type that mainly affects the eyes

Autosomal recessive inheritance

In most cases, including all types of OCA and some types of OA, albinism is passed on in an autosomal recessive inheritance pattern. This means a child has to inherit two copies of the faulty gene (one from each parent) to have the condition.

If both parents carry the gene, there’s a 1 in 4 chance that their child will have albinism and a 1 in 2 chance that their child will be a carrier. Carriers don’t have albinism but can pass on the faulty gene.

X-linked inheritance

Some types of OA are passed on in an X-linked inheritance pattern. This pattern affects boys and girls differently: girls who inherit the faulty gene become carriers and boys who inherit the faulty gene will get albinism.

When a mother is a carrier of an X-linked type of albinism, each of her daughters has a 1 in 2 chance of becoming a carrier and each of her sons has a 1 in 2 chance of having albinism.

When a father has an X-linked type of albinism, his daughters will become carriers, and his sons won’t have albinism and won’t be carriers.

Read more about how mutations are passed on.

Genetic counselling

If you have a history of albinism in your family or you have a child with the condition, you may want to talk to your GP about getting a referral for genetic counselling.

A genetic counsellor provides information, support and advice about genetic conditions. For example, you can discuss with them how you inherited albinism and the chances of passing it on.

Read more about genetic testing and counselling.

Diagnosing albinism

Albinism is usually obvious from a baby’s appearance when they’re born. Your baby’s hair, skin and eyes may be examined to look for signs of missing pigment.

As albinism can cause a number of eye problems, your baby may be referred to an eye specialist (ophthalmologist) for tests to check for conditions such as nystagmus, squint and astigmatism.

Electrodiagnostic testing is also sometimes used to help diagnose albinism. This is where small electrodes are stuck to the scalp to test the connections of the eyes to the part of the brain that controls vision.

Not all preconceived notions are dangerous.

Some are. Some are very dark, hateful, judgemental ideas that are made without all the information. It could be caused by a single bad experience, secondhand information, or misinformation. Wherever it stems from, some preconceived notions are terrible, destructive ideas that only serve to tear down.

I discovered this week that I have had a preconceived notion, a preformulated idea about a piece of Scripture. I wasn’t wrong about my idea. I wasn’t distorting the Bible, but I was completely unaware, completely blinded to something that was there.

After I show it to you, you’ll most likely realize you did the same thing. We all have some preconceived notions about Scripture and need to be more aware of that.

SCRIPTURE

“Then he spoke his message:

“The prophecy of Balaam son of Beor,
the prophecy of one whose eye sees clearly,
the prophecy of one who hears the words of God,
who has knowledge from the Most High,
who sees a vision from the Almighty,
who falls prostrate, and whose eyes are opened:

“I see him, but not now;
I behold him, but not near.
A star will come out of Jacob;
a sceptre will rise out of Israel.
He will crush the foreheads of Moab,
the skulls ofall the people of Sheth.”

– Numbers 24:15-17

MY PRECONCEIVED NOTION

Whenever I’ve read this passage, and yes, I have read through Numbers before, I have come to one conclusion.

This passage is about Jesus.

The prophet Balaam, hired to curse the nation of Israel, couldn’t do it. Instead, the Lord prompted him to speak words of life and promise. And in doing so, I thought, was speaking specifically about Jesus.

Jesus would be the star out of Jacob. It made sense. There would be a star that gave direction to the Magi so they could offer his worship (Matthew 2).

Jesus would be the sceptre to rise out of Israel. It made sense. While He didn’t come as a king or ruler on this earth, Jesus was, is, and forever will be the ruler over all things, sitting at the right hand of the Father (Revelation 1:4-6).

But is that it?

While I’m not wrong with that idea (and neither are you if you agree), that isn’t what the Israelites would have understood upon hearing or reading that passage from Numbers.

They would have had a very different understanding. Not a wrong understanding, but one that most Christians wouldn’t have thought of. Something that shows us just how powerful our preconceived notions are.

WHAT WE HAVE MISSED

From the pages of F.F. Bruce’s Jesus & Christian Origins Outside The New Testament, I discovered a different interpretation of the Numbers passage. It was held by a particular group of Jews, though possibly not exclusively.

While discussing this groups understanding of Messiah, and the criteria of, Bruce said this.

“The first [proof-text to validate their understanding of Messiah] is the Deuteronomy passage about the prophet like Moses with some associated passages; the second is Balaam’s oracle about the victorious ‘star out of Jacob’ and ‘sceptre of out Israel’ in Numbers 24:14-17, which originally referred to King David and so is appropriately reapplied to ‘great David’s greater son’...”

As soon as I read that, I put the book down. It wasn’t something I was reading for. It isn’t even what the book is about, but I was dumbfounded by what Bruce had said.

Balaam’s prophecy was about David…not initially Jesus.

It isn’t that the prophecy doesn’t apply to Jesus. It does. And this particular group of Jews, one that never came in contact with Jesus, totally believed that the Messiah, or one of the Messiahs, would fulfill this prophecy. But Jesus was not the first answer to “Who is this prophecy about?”

21st century Christians, while we are right in our conclusions, our preconceived notion of Balaam’s prophecy, we are also blinded by it.

CONCLUSION

We need to be aware. We need to consider the fact that our preconceived notion may not be right, or may not be the first right answer to questions from the Bible.

We aren’t necessarily wrong, but we may be overlooking interesting and important truth because we are “sure” we know the right answer.

As we read the Bible, we should feel free to ask what else could the Scripture be saying. How else could this be understood, by the original audience, by the first generation after that, or even the people that lived in the days of Jesus? There may be things that we are missing.

Beware of your own preconceived notions.

This article first appeared on Christian Thought Sandbox.

Tag: Interpretation

Mum Shocked After One Twin is Born with Albinism: Real Life Story