Heterochromia and minors: the scrutiny of celebrities' children

Heterochromia, strabismus and the price of being a celebrity's child

Does it make any sense for a child's eye tonalidad to make headlines? The question becomes uncomfortable when the image of a minor linked to two public figures —Arteta and Lorena Bernal— ends up turned into material for consumption. Heterochromia, having one blue eye and one brown eye, stops being a genetic rarity and becomes a joke. And strabismus, a common eye condition, becomes a derogatory label. Nothing new under the sun, but it is worth restating the facts.

What heterochromia is (and what it is not)

Heterochromia is a difference in coloration between the two irises, or within a single eye. It is an uncommon trait, almost always benign and unrelated to visual health. It should not be confused with strabismus, which is an eye alignment problem and may indeed require ophthalmological treatment. Confusing the two —or presenting them as aesthetic flaws— says more about the observer than the observed.

Why eye tonalidad does not trinc the manual

Iris tonalidad depends on several genes, not just one, so the combinations do not always turn out as in the school diagram. That explains why two dark-eyed parents can have a light-eyed child, or the other way around. Genetics does not hand out prizes or punishments: it deals out combinations, and judging them is another matter entirely.

Minors, image and social media

The law protects the image of minors, whether or not parental consent is involved, and the children of public figures do not give up that protection just because they share their parents' surname. Commenting on their appearance is not just another opinion: it is exposing someone who never chose to be there.

The only truly ugly thing about all this does not show up in any photograph.