Searching for family history and discovering new relatives is both depressing and hilarious

[Will Be an Egg in 5 years]

Baldness runs deeply in my mother's family. Grandpa was bald, so was his father, brothers and cousins. All my 3 uncles have some degree of baldness, but none reached the NW7 yet and they're older than my grandfather was when he did it himself. 2 of my cousins are NW6-7 before 30. In the last few years my mother started talking again with relatives she has lost contact or hasn't seen in years. All from her father sides. They are all over 40-50. And guess what? Yes, they're bald. NW3-4 and beyond. Actually, mom herself has some diffuse thinning, but very subtle.

After my Grandfather died she kept in contact and kept discovering or seeing for the first time more relatives, including the young ones, my age or younger. And guess what? Yep. Her cousins's sons, grandsons... All of them. It's fascinating how genes work. You just can't escape. Yes it's kinda of sad and make you realize it's a hard fight, but it's also hilarious to see an army of men who look a lot like each other with a very specific genetic trait like Androgenetic Alopecia. I think I only managed to escape earlier baldness due my father's genes. He was heading to his 70s with a NW1 and zero hairloss or thinning elswhere. I inherited his height, body type, face, eyes, hairtype.... but not his folicles resistance to DHT. Isn't that crazy? My brother looks like my NW7 grandpa but is barely a NW2 with some temple peak loss, but good density overall.

Sorry if this ended up too long or like a vague post in a personal blog. I just needed to vent. I just really like this subject. I wish there was more studies on generational baldness.

 

[NickyA]

I get you man. My paternal family has godlike hair genetics (Dad's a Norwood -1 at 53, uncle's a NW1 with barely noticeable crown thinning at 48 , my grandpa died at 88 with a NW1 and my great grandfather died at 102 with a NW1 too).

And like you, the problem comes from my mother's side. My maternal grandpa started balding in his 30s and was a Norwood 3.5 by the time he reached his mid forties. He died at 68 with a very thin NW4A-5A. And my maternal grandma's hair genetics are even worse: She had thin, wispy hair in her 70s and her brother was noticeably balding (NW3A) by his mid 30s. All of her other brothers are bald (NW5A-6) by the time they're in their mid 40s-50s. But one of her brothers had a son and he's been a Norwood 2 since his 20s, and he's 44 now. So maybe there's hope for me.

Hopefully I got my maternal grandpa's X cromosome instead of her's hahahaha. I guess I should just be happy that no one has hit NW7.

 

[Will Be an Egg in 5 years]

I get you man. My paternal family has godlike hair genetics (Dad's a Norwood -1 at 53, uncle's a NW1 with barely noticeable crown thinning at 48 , my grandpa died at 88 with a NW1 and my great grandfather died at 102 with a NW1 too).

And like you, the problem comes from my mother's side. My maternal grandpa started balding in his 30s and was a Norwood 3.5 by the time he reached his mid forties. He died at 68 with a very thin NW4A-5A. And my maternal grandma's hair genetics are even worse: She had thin, wispy hair in her 70s and her brother was noticeably balding (NW3A) by his mid 30s. All of her other brothers are bald (NW5A-6) by the time they're in their mid 40s-50s. But one of her brothers had a son and he's been a Norwood 2 since his 20s, and he's 44 now. So maybe there's hope for me.

Hopefully I got my maternal grandpa's X cromosome instead of her's hahahaha. I guess I should just be happy that no one has hit NW7.

Isn't that crazy? I don't that "it comes from your mother" thing isn't true, but in our case.. Well, it is. I have one cousin with a NW1 hairline in his mid 30s. And he has baldness from BOTH sides, including his dad. He was very lucky.

 

[NickyA]

Isn't that crazy? I don't that "it comes from your mother" thing isn't true, but in our case.. Well, it is. I have one cousin with a NW1 hairline in his mid 30s. And he has baldness from BOTH sides, including his dad. He was very lucky.

Or maybe he's got 'em Paul Walker genetics haha. Both sides of the family are important, often when one side has hair loss and the other doesn't the male pattern baldness will be milder or slower. It's believed that the father provides the 5-Alpha-Reductase activity and thus overall DHT levels, while the mother is the one who defines whether your hair is DHT sensitive or not, and how sensitive to DHT it is.

 

[Will Be an Egg in 5 years]

while the mother is the one who defines whether your hair is DHT sensitive or not, and how sensitive to DHT it is.

Well, I'm doomed than haha. My NW6 26 year old cousin looks a lot like his mom and both look like my maternal grandfather. In the other hand, I have another 29 year old cousin who is a NW1 despite his father (my maternal grandpa son) being a NW4. His mother has great hair genetics, very thick and dark, there must be some native genes there.

 

[NickyA]

Well, I'm doomed than haha. My NW6 26 year old brother looks a lot like his mom and both look like my maternal grandfather. In the other hand, I have another 29 year old cousin who is a NW1 despite his father (my maternal grandpa son) being a NW4. His mother has great hair genetics, very thick and dark, there must be some native genes there.

Eh looking more like your mom or dad isn't that useful to predict anything. I've read here of guys who thought they were ''safe'' due to having a similar face to the side of the family that doesn't have hair loss, only to end up Norwood 3.5 at 30 something and the brother who looked more like the bald relative still has a NW2 at 35+. Genetics are a lottery and the only way to know for sure would be to get a scalp test. And then you have guys like Rawtashk from tressless who expected to be bald before he turned 35 since all his close relatives are bald, he started finasteride+minoxidil at 24-25 and still has good hair at 36.

 

[Jpw1999]

I inherited the megamind skull shape from my dads side that all have full heads of hair to cover it and male pattern baldness from my mother's side, I cannot go bald or I will be absolutely fucked for life.

 

[Grim]

I inherited the megamind skull shape from my dads side that all have full heads of hair to cover it and male pattern baldness from my mother's side, I cannot go bald or I will be absolutely fucked for life.

Same here, there are a lot of guys that look great with the bald look, but there's also guys like me who do not have the face or head shape for it. I have a very heavy brow ridge. Almost neanderthal level, I can't imagine how exaggerated it would look if I was bald. At least the neanderthals had hair.