Black Mom Says People Think Her Light-Skinned Son Is Not Hers and Was Switched at Birth

Although Heather Dalia is the biological mother of her son Carter, the child looks nothing like her. However, Carter’s contrasting skin color has led to people questioning Heather if her baby was switched at birth.

Racial issues are one of the most heartbreaking and controversial things we still have to deal with in our societies today. After years of orientation and reeducation, it’s a little disheartening to see that people are still discriminated against due to their racial background.

Biracial couples have been at the center of these issues for years, having to deal with societal perception and acceptance, which is precisely what happened to a California couple and their baby.

Twenty-eight-year-old Heather Dalia and her husband, 27-year-old John, met while she was attending Brigham Young University, and he was there to complete a tax internship.

The pair subsequently fell in love before getting married in a temple in Philadelphia. Six months after their marriage, Heather got pregnant but sadly miscarried the baby.

However, after almost two years of marriage, she got pregnant again. The couple expanded their family this time when they welcomed their son Carter. Soon after his birth, the couple noticed that their son exhibited contrasting physical features to both his parents.

While Heather is a beautiful black woman, her husband John is a light-skinned man with beautiful blue eyes. Carter, however, took no skin feature from his mother and is even fairer than his father.

The baby’s contrasting features have led strangers to query Heather if Carter is her biological child. Things mainly took a nasty turn when Heather posted his pictures on her TikTok account after Carter’s birth, and the image went viral.

Most comments under the post called Carter’s biological make-up into question, with many asking Heather if she’s the baby’s birth mother. Some people even asked Heather if she was sure Carter had not been switched at birth, and these questions surprised and offended her.

Heather, who shared the posts on TikTok for her friends and family, who were her only followers at the time, was taken aback by the unfriendly comments. While speaking to Daily Mail in 2022, she said:

“I wasn’t expecting this negative response as I posted it because me and John think it’s funny how different he looked and have learned to embrace it rather than make it weird.”

She also explained that some people had found a way to make her posts controversial which is not what she intended or expected. Some offensive comments included someone calling Carter a “Mailwoman’s Kid.” Others pointed out that genetics was playing games and that John’s genes are stronger than Heather’s.

Despite these negative comments, other people encouraged Heather not to bother about the negative comments and that she had no obligation to justify how her child looked to anyone.

However, TikTok is not the only place Heather has got people questioning her baby’s skin color. Heather revealed that she once had someone come over to her house to fix the blinds, and the person assumed she was only a babysitter and Carter was not her child.

Comments under the TikTok post | Source: TikTok/therealheatherdalia

Even people from the African-American community question Heather about her baby’s lack of black features; some even look at her like she kidnapped someone’s baby.

At other times when she goes out with her baby, most people react with shock when they realize she’s Carter’s birth mother, with most admitting they had no idea.

Although Heather laughs off most of these comments and reactions, she believes it raises an important issue about societal expectations of how a family should look.

Comments under the TikTok post | Source: TikTok/therealheatherdalia

Heather disclosed that she wanted to educate people about how babies are born with varying features and skin tones which sometimes have nothing to do with their genetic make-up.

Also, she added that you rarely see the media portray the varying ways a baby can look despite their genetics. Although a few people have claimed it is common, her experience has taught her that a lot still needs to be done. Heather confessed:

“I think if people just saw it more in the media, it would become more common, and then people wouldn’t be so shocked to see a black woman with a fair-skinned child.”

Comments under the TikTok post | Source: TikTok/therealheatherdalia

Heather revealed she would start believing her experience was common when she no longer got stares in public while out with her son. Also, Carter’s skin tone has started changing as the baby grows older, even though it took many months for him to show enough resemblance to his mother.

Hopefully, this would reduce, if not eliminate, the issue of people staring at Heather and her baby in public and the negative comments she has been getting.

Comments under the TikTok post | Source: TikTok/therealheatherdalia

The issue of profiling and discriminating against people due to their skin color is contributing negatively to society, and hopefully, that mentality and belief will change soon.

Do you think Heather deserved to have those negative questions and comments directed at her because of her baby’s skin color?

Also, do you think the issue of people being discriminated against because of skin color will be no more anytime soon?

Anomama