Reconsidering my position on reproducing with the balding gene

[DepressedByHairLoss]

The problem is that baldness screws up a person's attractiveness (and well-being) much more than such things as having a big nose or being short. Having a big nose or a weird skull shape is soooo minimal when compared with baldness. These giddy parents who are just itching at the bit to have a cute little baby should really think things through first and think about what garbage genetics they are passing on to their children.

[BigThinker]

As I was leaving costco today I saw a nw6 holding a new born baby. If I knew for a fact that the baby was a boy, I would have confronted the guy.

If you're serious, you have a million of men to confront then -- including your dad.

What if you were leaving costco and saw an nw6 holding a hot babes hand?

[BigThinker]

The problem is that baldness screws up a person's attractiveness (and well-being) much more than such things as having a big nose or being short. Having a big nose or a weird skull shape is soooo minimal when compared with baldness. These giddy parents who are just itching at the bit to have a cute little baby should really think things through first and think about what garbage genetics they are passing on to their children.

LOL. Yeah, because people with other undesirable physical traits don't let it affect their attractiveness and well-being???

God, this thread makes me want to leave this place.

[DepressedByHairLoss]

LOL. Yeah, because people with other undesirable physical traits don't let it affect their attractiveness and well-being???

God, this thread makes me want to leave this place.

All I'm saying is that hair loss is so much more detrimental to a person's good looks than a big nose or the shape of a person's skull. I've always had a big nose and I couldn't care less about that. Yet hair loss has hit me like a ton of bricks. I see your hair loss is barely noticeable man, and you're really lucky for that. I really wonder if you'd feel differently if you were an NW6.

[Notcoolanymore]

Unsure if this is a serious comment or not.

Assuming it is - why didn't you just ask him if its a boy or a girl? If you were prepared to "confront" this stranger if you knew it was a boy anyway, then it's nothing to just ask him what sex his baby is, right?

In fact, you must see NW6/7's all the time, with children. What do you plan to say exactly when you confront them?

What about short men..will you confront them for having children?

Not being serious. Just trying to lighten it up around here. That's what I do. If we prevented people from having kids based on potential for defects the human race would go extinct.

[Notcoolanymore]

If you're serious, you have a million of men to confront then -- including your dad.

What if you were leaving costco and saw an nw6 holding a hot babes hand?

I would tip my cap to the guy. I hate my hair just as much as the next guy here, but I have learned to deal with it. I don't walk around like its the end of the world. Losing my hair since my early twenties, I get the mentality of most of the guys around here, but we need to put things into perspective. Hair loss sucks, but things can get a lot worse.

[Notcoolanymore]

BTW, I thought my comment about "confronting the guy" was amusing. Silly, but amusing. Confronting random guys on the street can be pretty dangerous.

[PaddyBateman]

Not being serious. Just trying to lighten it up around here. That's what I do. If we prevented people from having kids based on potential for defects the human race would go extinct.

Normally I'd assume that such a comment was a joke.

But the original poster of this thread was serious (or claims to be), so couldn't rule it out...

[PaddyBateman]

The problem is that baldness screws up a person's attractiveness (and well-being) much more than such things as having a big nose or being short. Having a big nose or a weird skull shape is soooo minimal when compared with baldness. These giddy parents who are just itching at the bit to have a cute little baby should really think things through first and think about what garbage genetics they are passing on to their children.

You're effectively suggesting that your parents shouldn't have had you, and you are calling for yourself not to have been born. Hey, I get the pain of hair loss. It's devastating. But thoughts like this are not in line.

I will make the assumption that you live in a wealthy western free democratic nation, have never starved a day in your life , and always have had a roof over your head. Congrats, you are already doing better than half of humanity.

Also, to take your thoughts literally...a baby born now, will be say 25 in the year 2038. Do you not think there'll be some seriously better treatments for their potential hairloss by then?

[BigThinker]

All I'm saying is that hair loss is so much more detrimental to a person's good looks than a big nose or the shape of a person's skull. I've always had a big nose and I couldn't care less about that. Yet hair loss has hit me like a ton of bricks. I see your hair loss is barely noticeable man, and you're really lucky for that. I really wonder if you'd feel differently if you were an NW6.

It's definitely noticeable. I've got a handful of comments . It's just early enough that it frames my face and when I have a beard it's detracted. Hell, the girl I'm currently seeing on and off likes my mature look and I'm 25.

Trust me, I know I've got it good relative to some. But, even on treatment, my hair is below baseline. The uncertainly is just as troubling. I'm still gonna get married and pump mini-mes. I've spent a lot of time stressing hair loss, but it just ain't worth it anymore. Honestly, reading this thread has made me feel relatively good about my mental state regardless hair loss.

[PaddyBateman]

It's definitely noticeable. I've got a handful of comments . It's just early enough that it frames my face and when I have a beard it's detracted. Hell, the girl I'm currently seeing on and off likes my mature look and I'm 25.

Trust me, I know I've got it good relative to some. But, even on treatment, my hair is below baseline. The uncertainly is just as troubling. I'm still gonna get married and pump mini-mes. I've spent a lot of time stressing hair loss, but it just ain't worth it anymore. Honestly, reading this thread has made me feel relatively good about my mental state regardless hair loss.

Re: your last line.

That's how I feel. Before reading this forum, I used to think I was being particularly vain, being so bothered by my hair. I thought it was just me.

Now I realise, how upbeat I actually have been.

[25 going on 65]

25/65,

The problem with implementing any kind of eugenics in this matter is that all evidence points to AGA being a polygenic trait. Furthermore the gene set involved is still unknown. There is therefore no one "bald gene" to pass down to offspring. Recombinant factors are at play which makes familial history at best a random guess.

Consider my own situation: My father is 73, and is barely at NW2, and doesn't even have any gray. My uncles are in their 60's and are the same way. My mother's side didn't have it either. Yet here I am creeping into NW4 territory. My point is you couldn't make a "safe" determination to have children simply by the absence of the condition. AGA's properties are ubiquitous enough to manifest under even the most unlikely of ancestors.

<<The biggest parenting mistake most people make is reproducing when their genes are not good enough. Do not be selfish>>

And herein lies our dilemma: Under most scenarios, we don't KNOW what that is. Some of the brightest people on the planet come from average parents. The most attractive people typically come from "ho-hum" lookers. Beauty does not always beget beauty. Ugly does not always beget ugly.

Look, I know you're venting, but stop trying to pretend you're going to do mankind a favor by withholding your crap genetics. Because the truth of the matter is you're not smart enough to make a judgement of what is crap and what isn't. None of us are.

Gave this some thought. It probably is the best argument anyone can make against my OP
However the evidence is still right in front of my face....couples w/ little to no premature balding in their families seem much less likely to have kids w/ premature balding. Whereas when even 1 parent has 1 parent (ie the child has 1 grandparent) w/ premature balding, the chances of the kid balding before 30 are HUGE

Balding is aesthetic death for almost everyone. I can not see how it is moral to have children, if you have a genetic makeup that almost guarantees disfigurement DURING young adulthood
And yes it is disfiguring

[35YrsAfter]

Gave this some thought. It probably is the best argument anyone can make against my OP
However the evidence is still right in front of my face....couples w/ little to no premature balding in their families seem much less likely to have kids w/ premature balding. Whereas when even 1 parent has 1 parent (ie the child has 1 grandparent) w/ premature balding, the chances of the kid balding before 30 are HUGE

Balding is aesthetic death for almost everyone. I can not see how it is moral to have children, if you have a genetic makeup that almost guarantees disfigurement DURING young adulthood
And yes it is disfiguring

Balding doesn't bother every man, but if it does, there are far more options available today than there were when I was young. I remember when I was 17, my friend had a neighbor in his late twenties who was noticeably thinning. There was nothing available at that time but snake oil. I still remember my friend telling me his neighbor used a product available at that time called "Iodets". The name implies the user wasn't nice enough to their hair when they were younger, so the product is one that pays your scalp back with some kind of kindness, or something. Hair gimmicks go back many years.

35YrsAfter also posts as CITNews and works at Dr. Cole's office
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[Keeno]

This will be a quite different slant from the rest of the thread but I have reconsidered my position on reproducing with the balding gene too.

My reasons for NOT reproducing with the balding gene (or whatever gene) were very deep, I have to say. Through my young adulthood, coincidentially when I was going about with an NW7 horseshoe all throughout that period in my life, I was getting accused of being a paedophile. Indeed, that was always accompanied with threats or attempts of violence.... therefore I was ending up traumatised again and again and again.

I don't know for sure that this stuff happened because I had a horseshoe, and glasses. There are stereotypes around what combination of traits makes a "paedophile", and things like balding and glasses always seem high on the list. I have Asperger's too and struggled for a long time against coming across as odd, or socially awkward, and would think it's more relevant that I was an introvert on the autistic spectrum so seemed "different".

Not surprisingly I avoided children altogether, and certainly didn't ever want to have any of my own, because of what I went through.

I know that besides inevitable personality stereotypes, balding is a thing that still contributes to the paedo stereotype, given my experiences before and after shaving the horseshoe off. A couple of examples are as follows:

I go to a local Starbucks every week, where there are many parents with kids, and they often come and sit at my table and leave the kids alone with me while they order.

I was on the bus to work on Monday and a mother and daughter sat with me (indeed it's always young attractive women who sit beside me on buses, which they never did before). The girl in her buggy was put straight in front of me, was initiating (and allowed to continue) interaction with me, and took to me so much that she expressed wishes that I was her father, with no dissent or revocation from her mother for saying this.

There are many other such cases, but I still don't seek to be near kids, yet they are always being brought near me and to me. When they are, I notice people looking upon this, not to give me dirty looks as if I'm a paedo, but smiling because they think it's a cute and pleasant scene.

This stuff doesn't suggest I come across as a paedo any more, indeed perhaps someone who looks suitable to be near kids and have kids, and only happened since I shaved off what had been a grown horseshoe. It has made me reconsider whether I want to reproduce or not as there are loud and clear signals society is not revoking me if kids are near me.

I just find it highly encouraging and never had thought things like just shacing your head would be THAT transformative.

[baldozer]

Gave this some thought. It probably is the best argument anyone can make against my OP
However the evidence is still right in front of my face....couples w/ little to no premature balding in their families seem much less likely to have kids w/ premature balding. Whereas when even 1 parent has 1 parent (ie the child has 1 grandparent) w/ premature balding, the chances of the kid balding before 30 are HUGE

Balding is aesthetic death for almost everyone. I can not see how it is moral to have children, if you have a genetic makeup that almost guarantees disfigurement DURING young adulthood
And yes it is disfiguring

Its not necessarily disfiguring. For example Zidane looks great bald.