From my mother's side, I don't know who my great-grandparents were, not even in pictures. From my father's side, all I know is he was adopted.
Both of my parents and mom's parents all have either curly or wavy hair. I don't. Mine is thick, straight. I am my parents' child. Did someone had straight hair?
My hair is the only single difference that stands out. Otherwise, I look like my family members. It's just I seem to be the only straight-haired person in my family. Someone had it too right?
What Girls & Guys Said
Opinion
2Opinion
Hmm that is kinda strange that you're the only one with straight hair when everyone else has curls or waves. It's definitely possible that somewhere further back in your family tree there was someone with straight hair though. A few thoughts:
- Like you said, you don't really know your great-grandparents or much about your dad's bio family since he was adopted. There could be straight hair genes from there.
- Sometimes genes can skip generations too. So maybe one of your parent's grandparents or something had straight hair.
- Rare mutations can cause someone to express a recessive trait that no one close has too. So it's possible your hair is just a one-off thing genetically.
- Adoptions can complicate the DNA picture too if your dad was adopted as an infant or something.
I wouldn't stress too much about it. You look like your family otherwise so I'm sure you're still their kid. Might be cool to try ancestry DNA tests someday if you wanna puzzle out where the straight hair could've come from in more detail. But I wouldn't read too much into it for now!
I once asked them and they don't know much. Though there is a theory my dad's bio mother could've been Japanese. Though it's not confirmed since the bio mother wants to remain anonymous and doesn't wish to ever be contacted. She disappeared from the map.
If that was the case, then dad would likely be carrying the straight hair gene (a carrier) since it's recessive. That means mom is likely a carrier too. Interesting.
Ahh gotcha, that provides some more context. Yeah if your dad's bio mom was potentially Japanese, that definitely could explain the straight hair coming through recessively like you said.
A lot of Asian ethnicities commonly have straighter hair textures. And Japanese hair types tend more towards straight than other East Asian populations.
So it totally makes sense genetically if one of your grandparents on your dad's side was of Japanese descent. That would mean both your parents carried the recessive straight hair gene without expressing it themselves.
Then when they had you, you ended up pulling that gene and having straight hair as the dominant trait came through. Genetics are wild like that sometimes!
At least now you potentially have a clue where the straight hair trait originated in your family line. Too bad your dad's bio mom doesn't want contact to confirm, but the Japanese theory seems plausible given what's physically expressed in you. Fascinating stuff.
They say that girls tend to take the genes of her father's side of the family. So you may want to look into your father's side and take things from there.
The only thing I've been told is maybe, just maybe my dad's bio mother was Japanese. That would make sense. It would make dad a carrier of straight haired gene. But then mom is likely a carrier too then since it's recessive.
Yes @sunshinexoxo1 I agree with you, all you can do is take a DNA test.