I am mixed race and I am British. Don't take any notice of what the Americans say about race - it cannot be applied anywhere else as in my opinion when it comes to race, they are a dysfunctional nation. Personally, I am more than happy to be mixed race - I see it it as a privilege and that might just make me and others like me happier. That reader from Melbourne is so funny - the thought that our peers don't mix with us, so our parents have to compensate? Ha ha ha ha.

Elizabeth Jamieson, Southend-On-Sea, UK

The suggestion implicit in the article that all mixed race (still an okay term here in Canada as far as I know) marriages were illegal before 1967 in the US is wrong. That may have been the last year any state had such laws (probably not enforced). I lived in Manhattan at the time and interracial couples of various sorts were not that uncommon and as far as I know there were no legal issues involved.

MMN
Toronto

Mathew Negru, Toronto, anada

Regarding chimeric cells. I would remind people that DNA not only resides in the nucleus (which is being transposed) but also in the mitochondria.

All human mitochondria is inherited from the mother.

In theory, we could have turnip or marmoset DNA 'co-existing' with human DNS in cells.

Tony G, birmingham, UK

without more context the study is not interesting. e.g. is there a control for parental income? Maybe, parents simply spend more time on the children because their peers do not socialize with them.

Mark Joshi, Melbourne,

I thought the term 'mixed race' was out of fashion in the US--a tad politically incorrect. I usually hear 'biracial'.

Robin, Kansas City, MO, US

Was the study normalised for parental income? In my experience, mixed-race marriages (at least in Britain) are more common among middle class families, which is likely to skew the results somewhat.

Bob Frost, Birmingham, England

From the little I've read, the author has gaping holes in her theory. I have a mixed-race child, and I certainly do not consider her to part of an untypical family. Which begs the question, untypical to what? If the author bothered to do even a little research, the latest census figures show that biracial children (along with interracial marriage and partnerships) have skyrocketed!

Rose Sonenthal, Bellevue, WA

I'm unable to buy out the argument and reasoning elucidated, in your thought provoking write up. Why should parents of mixed race kids be doting and spending more lavishly on their kids vis a vis the kids born out of communion of homogeneous races. Do this form a generic view point, or some case specific inference. In Indian scenario, caste and religion do play an important role in deciding about the matrimonial alliances. But post marriage, parents are just parents and they aught to behave or pour their love and affection to their siblings, without any such inhibitions. On the contrary I feel, having an adopted child could bring forth the sense of parental insecurity, which might translate into upping their "parental expenditure". To camouflage their non-biological link, such parents might resort to besotting their affection and buying love through money and comforts.Every coin has two sides, let us measure its fun and flip side .Good parenting is an art not a hypothesis.

Sandy, New Delhi, India