Survey: Bald by choice or genetics?

[RayzorBlade]

I started thinning around 18. My father is bald and my mothers father had lots of hair. I teach High School Biology and my students are working on a family genetics project. I thought it would be interesting to do my own little genetic survey. So, are you bald by choice or does it run in the family? A geneticists will tell you that you get your hair genes from your mothers father. Obviously, this is not true in my case. So, am I the exception to this rule or there others like me?

[D.A.L.U.I.]

In the family, father & his father, mother's father also bald.  But, my father's bother has very thin and balding hair but his two sons, my cousins, haven't got the slightest receding hairline at all.  On the other hand his sister's oldest helped me to go sly and join him on the sly side, but her younger son has all of his.  Fickle finger of fate, some of us luck out and wind up sly, the other's keep their bond with the apes. 

[Ming the Merciless]

I have m.o.l. my father's pattern; looking at a photo of my maternal grandfather (dead sixty years ago this past month), he has a high forehead, but I can't say it's my pattern, exactly.  My brother's hair looks like he's the son/grandson of Bozo the Clown.  So much for genetics.

[Razorhead]

I've got a high forhead with some thinning at the crown. My father is completely bald on top. My grandfather on my mother's side also had the high forehead and some thinning but looked for the most part like he had a full head of hair. I shave it because of all the grey and because I just look and feel better bald than I do with hair.

[Sgt. Pate]

BBC! 

[RayzorBlade]

 My father was totally bald on top by 21. My brother is 27 and still has a full head of hair. I started seeing mine go around 18, so I decided to start shaving it. My mother always told me if you shave anything it always comes back thicker. So, as a desperate 18 year old I shaved my dome in hopes it would come back thicker. Still have a little on top but I love the sly look and haven't stopped shaving for 12 years. I seem to have gotten a mix between my father and maternal grandfather or maybe my mother was right and I was able to save some of it. Thanks for your comments.

[Rob]

receeding but not bald, so I'm bbc, but the receeding hairline came from my mother's mom's side rather than her dads.  All my mom's uncles on her mother's side had similar hairlines, though they never went bald.

[Razor X]

receeding but not bald, so I'm bbc, but the receeding hairline came from my mother's mom's side rather than her dads.  All my mom's uncles on her mother's side had similar hairlines, though they never went bald.

My mom's brothers have all thinned and receded but none of them went completely bald.  None of my dad's brothers have even thinned or receded.  My dad has -- he's at the point now where I was 7 or 8 years ago.  How I got there ahead of him I'll never know. 

I always thought I'd be like my uncles -- thin out and recede a good bit but never actually go completely bald.  Things didn't work out that way, but I'm OK with that; I'm an all-or-nothing kind of guy. Having less to shave on top is fine with me.  It does come as a bit of a surprise, though when you suddenly notice one day that you're almost completely bald.  When your head is shaved, you don't notice the continuing hair loss and tend to forget about it -- until you skip shaving for a few days and realize that nothing's growing back on top.   

[CraftyGuy]

BBC, although I know that there's a genetic component in there somewhere.  My dad started losing his hair in his 50s and had was nearly completely bald by the time he was 62, as did my oldest brother.  My youngest brother started losing his hair at around 17 or 18, and still sports the "comb-over from Hell" at age 57ish.

Me, I have always had a bit of a high forehead, with a touch of "power-alleys" (somewhere between a Norwood 1 and 2).  Who's to say whether over time those alleys would have become a cul-de-sac?  But bald is better 

[BaldWriterBob]

Bald by Choice.

[jimbobjohnbrown]

everybody in my family went bald (MPB).... I go sly to keep the dreaded horseshoe at bay

[Jack21]

My paternal grandfather is near  90 and still has a full head of hair. My father has a full head of hair at 60. On my maternal side things are very different though. My maternal grandfather went bald very young. My mother, sister, and aunt all have very, very thin hair. My mother uses concealers in her hair its so bad. When I would complain to my sister about balding she would always say to me "You're a guy. At least you can just shave your head." That put things in perspective. My family fits the model.

[Jack21]

My late maternal uncle was completely bald by the time he passed in 1982 (He was 22). Unfortunately I don't rememebr him that well, but have lots of photographs. His son (my cousin) is also completely bald and from what I remember has been since he was in his mid 20's.

[YohaiM]

First started to shave by choice,but as time progressed,the hair in front started to thin,so now I look pathetic when growing my hair,and my father has the same receding line,so now it's genetics.(his father has full hair,and he's 75 years old,but my late mother's father had a receding line)

[mangosink12572]

My father's side  -  all bald by 29 - - -I still have fuzz on top - - -like Razor said  - -I keep the top smooth because I really do not want to know how much I do not have left growing  - - -I did let it grow a few months ago  and   my "houseshoe" fringe appeared after several days  - -nothing on top but a little fuzz