Father Went Bald at 19, I’ve Still Got My Hair at 21

Hi! My father started balding, according to him, when he was 19, and from there it progressively got worse. Now, only a horse shoe of hair remains on his head. I’m 21, and my hair is very thick, and it continues to grow without stop. Moreover, it seems like, genetically speaking, i didn’t inherit his side of the family, i look nothing like him, and my appearance looks like family members who have had thick hair for all their lives. Does this mean, taking into consideration that i have a thick set of hair, that i didn’t inherit those genes?

Your father sounds like a Norwood Class 7 patterned hair loss (see image at right). Usually if you are going to inherit this pattern, you would already have signs of it as that pattern usually starts showing miniaturization at your age. These very advanced hair loss patterns are nearly complete by the mid-20s. That is, of course, no guarantee, but it does sound like you have inherited your hair genetics from some other person in the family.

Until you reach around age 26, you will not know if you are going to have genetic balding (possibly a balding pattern less severe than your father’s pattern), as most men show some signs of hair loss by that age if they are going to develop genetic balding.