When Rosamere Fernanda de Andrade first held her newborn baby she assumed there had been a mix up. Rosamere and ex-husband, Joao, are both black – but their daughter, Ruth, had white skin, blonde hair and blue eyes. But it was no mistake – Ruth, suffers from a rare generic condition called albinism and has no skin pigment.
Since then Rosamere, 31, has had two more albino children as well as three black kids. So stark is the difference between Rosamere and three of her children, she is often mistaken for their nanny.
The condition is characterised by the absence of pigment in the skin, hair and eyes – which leaves sufferers exposed to a range of afflictions. The youngsters are so sensitive to sunlight that they need factor 100 sun block every two hours – and only allowed to play outdoors at night.