Is male-pattern baldness inherited from the mother’s side?

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    Last Updated: May 16, 2025

    Male-pattern baldness is influenced by genes from both parents. Athough the X chromosome from the mother carries important genes related to hair loss, autosomal genes from both parents have a greater overall effect.

    It is sometimes believed that male-pattern baldness is inherited only from the mother’s side and not from the father's side. In reality, existing research shows quite clearly that genetic susceptibility to male-pattern baldness is determined by genes inherited from one’s mother and father.[1][2] It’s possible this myth of maternal-specific inheritance of hair loss comes from the fact that the X chromosome (which, for biological males, comes entirely from the mother’s side) carries the androgen receptor (AR) gene and mutations to this gene are known to have a major impact on the risk of male-pattern baldness. However, genes carried on autosomes (i.e., from both parents) seem to have a larger cumulative effect on hair loss than those from the X chromosome.