Was there ever an occasion that you thought you were adopted because your eye color is not the same as your parents? In earlier times, it was believed that parents with brown eyes can never have children with blue eyes. This is based on the two-gene theory, that the dominant gene determines the color of your eyes. The color brown is considered the dominant gene and blue is considered the recessive gene. Based on this theory, parents with brown eyes may have children with blue eyes only under the condition that somewhere in their genetic line, there is an ancestor that carries the blue recessive gene.
More research into this interesting field has resulted in additional theories. One such theory is that the color of the eyes comes from the amount and type of melanin pigment on the iris fibers. If the eyes have a large concentration of melanin within the iris stroma, the resulting eye color is brown. Blue eyes come from a lesser volume of melanin and can even be affected by the size and spacing of the fibers and stromal cells. People may also experience a slight change in eye color depending on their exposure to the sun which is why brown eyes are more common in tropical countries and blue eyes are more common for Caucasians.
Other scientists postulate that eyes get their color from a combination of brown, blue and yellow pigments in the eyes resulting in additional eye colors like amber, green and hazel. For instance, green eye color comes from a combination of the blue and yellow pigments. Amber results from both brown and yellow. Hazel is considered the midway color between the lightest shade of blue and the darkest shade of brown and is often characterized by subtle changes in lighting.
Another interesting tidbit is that most infants are born with blue eyes until they later change into their natural color. Even the color of your dress may affect the color of your eyes based on how the light reflects such color. So, give your eyes the importance and care that they deserve. Your eye color can be considered a miracle in itself.