To be worried my son might lose his hair?

[PlainWhiteTee]

My son is 15 and has great hair. Thick, blond, gorgeous. His dad's hair however receded in a V pattern in his 20s resulting in him going for the all over with clippers look in his 30s. My son's hair is a different texture, much coarser, but they have similar thick eyebrows which makes me think he'll develop the same receding hair when he's older. I'll be gutted for him if this happens. AIBU to be sad that this might happen to him?

not sad but it can be genetic, my ds has this problem, i really feel for him but he says it doesn't bother him.

Some types of hair loss tend to follow the matrimonial line rather than the fathers, I've heard.

How was your dad's hair?

I always thought male pattern baldness was inherited from your mum.

Happy to stand corrected though

I think you are lucky if that is all you have to worry about.
I'm worried that my 13 year old son (with SEN) will never be independent.
I am not trying to be flippant but many many men have this and short styles look very nice. It's not something to be gutted about imo.

Start having up for hair transplant surgery just incase? Never know he might follow in your footsteps with his hair.

I think you are lucky if that is all you have to worry about.
I'm worried that my 13 year old son (with SEN) will never be independent.
I am not trying to be flippant but many many men have this and short styles look very nice. It's not something to be gutted about imo.

Amen to this!

itsamood My pal and his cousins on his DF's side are all bald, so I don't think that's always the case.

OP, baldness is fine, most men look better without a ton of hair.

I totally get where you're coming from... but I'm afraid I do think YABU.

This sort of reminds me of when people get offended on other people's behalf? Your son may not even be fussed about going bald, don't be sad on his behalf before it's even happened (cause it might not).

And look at it this way - without yours and your husband's genes he wouldn't be here at all. Even if it does mean he might go bald a little earlier than others.

Maybe he will, maybe he won't. I realise that for you OP this feels like a problem, but IMO the best thing you can do is not to let him feel the same.

For those saying male pattern baldness is inherited from the maternal side - that's a myth. It comes from a number of genes, not just mum's.

There's nothing you can do about him losing his hair. What you can do is to help him develop confidence, self worth and the ability to follow his interests and lead an interesting and satisfying life, which will be far more useful than hair.

My Dads was fairly bald by 35, I’m 32 and no balding/thinning yet, but if I go bald I do, it’s only hair. He’ll pick up on your worry and that risks him thinking going bald is a negative thing.

Agree taratill!
I wish I only had my child's hair to worry about in terms of their future!
You don't even know if he will go bald and who cares if he does! Didn't stop you marrying his dad !

If it makes you feel any better my husband went bald prematurely and is deemed very good looking regardless.

I thought you were going to say he was having chemo or something.

My son is 32 and has been shaving his head for about 5 years due to thinning hair. He's absolutely fine with it and I can't imagine him looking any other way now. Both his grandfathers were bald as coots.

You can’t change it either way.
At the end of the day...it’s hair.

One of my older DS is obviously losing his hair. I was sad about it at first but he doesn't seem to care so that makes me feel better. He's a great guy and I know he has a happy life ahead of him -- but I still wish he wouldn't go bald.

I understand why it makes you sad but it's really not that bad. I am more worried about my dd losing her hair - it is a lot thinner on top as is mine. (I have alopecia).

It follows the paternal grandfather

All the men in my family are/were bald. In DH's family the men all still have a full head of hair. DS seems to be following his father's side of the family and still shows no signs of a receding hair line at 23 (which my brothers both had at that age). So it definitely doesn't get inherited from the mother's side! But if he had inherited the baldness it wouldn't be worth worrying about as there are worse things that could happen!

I know that I'm lucky if this is all I have to worry about (it really isn't), and yes I'm very, very lucky that we're not talking about him having chemo. It's just a thought that's been floating around my head for a couple of months. I'd never mentioned it to him and he's never brought it up, I'm willing to bet he's never given it a thought.

@taratill why be so rude?

Yes I understand. DH started to lose his hair young and my ds is starting to thin slightly in early 20s at temples

Hope he takes after my side

My dad still has his hair, but I'm not sure there's much science in the stories of hair loss or retention being passed down the mother's line.