Whether we like our family tree or not, it’s something we belong to and there’s nothing we can do about it. Although every family has its strengths and weaknesses, some people feel like they were not that lucky in the gene lottery.
“Which shitty genetics did you inherit?” someone posed a bold question on Ask Reddit, and many people took it as an opportunity to confess some of the traits they’re neither happy nor proud about.
From baldness and anxiety to poor eyesight and acne, many of these genetic traits will hit very close to home, but remember that whatever it is, we’re all beautiful in our own way.
#1
Likely Alzheimer’s.
Both gamma’s had it, my mom has it and I’m in my early fifties and starting to feel the beginning of decline.
Frankly, I’m scared s***less.
Image source: f_leaver, Sora Shimazaki
#2
A very rare recessive progressive genetic disorder. I’m a carrier. My wife also is a carrier. Incidence of being a carrier is over 1 in 1,000,000. Unfortunately for our kids, they have a 1/2 chance of being carriers, 1/4 chance that they won’t, and 1/4 chance that they’ll inherit the double recessive gene and manifest the disorder. 2 out of our 4 kids have manifested the disorder and their life expectancy is 10-12 years.
Life sucker punches everyone.
Image source: mbstone, Ivan Samkov
#3
Teeth. I brush using an electric toothbrush for 2 minutes twice a day using prescription toothpaste, I floss twice a day, I’ve had braces and I floss under the permanent retainers once a day, I wear my night retainer every night and clean it every morning, have a dedicated tongue brusher and scraper that I use as needed, I go to the dentist twice a year and get fluoride treatments, I don’t drink soda or eat excessive sugar, and I still have cavities.
I had to get a root canal that ended up failing (missed by the guy who did the root canal and 3 separate dentists) and when the cap eventually rotted off I had to get an implant which got infected, then got infected again, then was deemed chronically infected and had to be removed.
Now my wisdom teeth are acting up and need to be removed.
I am so f*****g sick of putting in so much time, energy, and money to be *below par* with most of the rest of the world
I’m only 33
Image source: NeedsItRough, Caroline LM
#4
My parents met in their 20s, bonded over how they both have shitty circulation and everyone in their families has shitty circulation, and were like ‘I know, let’s breed!’.
Went as you’d expect.
Image source: cateml, Oliver Cole
#5
Hair on every inch of my body except for the top of my head
Image source: elgatogordo19, Furry Beast
#6
Short, acne, small tits, crooked teeth and underdeveloped/too far back jaw (they got mostly fixed with braces), thin hair, mental illness, scoliosis, tiny toes (what the f**k is up with that, I get too many comments about my baby feet)
Can’t think of anything else atm
It’s like I won the reverse genetic bingo. If this was medieval times I would definitely be the repulsive town witch
Wdit: oh right, forgot IBS
Image source: amputatedsnek, Atikah Akhtar
#7
Lynch Syndrome. I am on my third round of (different each time) cancer.
Image source: ferrrsursie, SHVETS production
#8
The gift of over thinking (anxiety)
Image source: Username-xxx, Joice Kelly
#9
excessive sweating
Image source: mrzpzp, cottonbro
#10
Starving myself and still being fat
Image source: anon, Towfiqu barbhuiya
#11
Half of my face has my moms bone structure, the other half my dad. Come on, evolution, I thought this was all about symmetry.
OH and they both have addictive personalities which makes substance abuse almost instinctive. Luckily I was a pothead instead of an alcoholic or pill popper. We’re all doing better now LMAO!
Image source: vashonnn, Pavel Danilyuk
#12
No male in my family line has ever lived over 53 years old. I went through our family graveyard to verify this is true back to the 1860’s.
My family do not like me mentioning it. I am 38 now and have fully accepted my genetic fate.
Image source: ZebraSpot
#13
My wife says it not a big deal but I always tell her she would be freaking out if she started to lose her hair too. Hair means just as much to men as it does to women. Confidence killer.
Image source: YM1979, Towfiqu barbhuiya
#14
Two of my sons have muscular dystrophy. That’s about as shitty as it gets.
Image source: coffeedognuts, cottonbro
#15
Severe acne when I was a teen that left behind scars.
Image source: DeathSpiral321, Anna Nekrashevich
#16
My grandma’s large chest. Have a lot of back pain now and everything hurts. Getting a bit of them removed in a few years👍
Image source: Emotional_Energy7130
#17
I’m slowly going blind from RP. Thanks mom. My spinal discs are deflating and pinching off my nerves, Thanks dad.
Image source: ruzzerboo
#18
It’s alcoholics all the way down
Image source: faceeatingleopard, The home of Fixers on Flic
#19
Being unusually hairy, oily, and large framed for a woman. It’s a thing with my family, none of the women in it are exactly the picture of traditional feminine beauty. I have to wear guys sizes in shoes because my feet are too wide for most women’s shoes.
Image source: alufangirl1993, Sora Shimazaki
#20
Terrible teeth. Extra long roots, extra root points, an extra row. UGH.
Image source: mrsimpellizzeri, Andrea Piacquadio
#21
Female pattern baldness from my father’s side of the family and white hair from my mother’s side.
I don’t mind white hair in theory, but thinning white hair is nearly invisible.
Image source: jdith123
#22
Allergies
Image source: zanesenjak_, cottonbro
#23
My back went out in my 20s, and wasn’t getting better. After a while I couldn’t stand up straight, and had to get it scanned. The found the channel in my spine that the nerve goes through is 1/4 the size of most people’s, so the very minor disc slip I’d had became a major problem. They wound up having to carve that channel (dunno what it’s called, sorry) wider. Instant relief, but I now have a pretty weak back that’s prone to going out. I recover with rest, now, thank goodness, whereas before I wouldn’t.
Anyway, that’s probably my worst thing, genetically speaking. Bad spine.
Image source: Coygon, Karolina Grabowska
#24
A bad spine (scoliosis, stenosis, & spondyolisthesis) and arthritis in other joints. Luckily, I’m not as bad off as previous generations of women in my family.
Image source: anon, Klara Kulikova
#25
Mother has a full head of thick hair
Father had thinning hair and a receding hairline
Guess whose genes this guy got
Image source: neohylanmay
#26
dark circles under my eyes
Image source: xPav_, romana klee
#27
A very rare case of keratosis pilaris (it covers my whole body not just the limbs, apparently it’s super rare)
Image source: Unable-Ad-6116, Karolina Grabowska
#28
Acne that forgot to leave with the rest of puberty is also not fun. I have the scars AND I have the angry zits that like to crop up along my bra line. At least at this point, my face is taking the least of it and I don’t have deep pockmarks or scarring there. But I don’t wear plunging necklines because my chest is a mixture of new and old scars.
Image source: ConniveryDives
#29
im adopted, but me and my twin both have godawful eyesight
Image source: anon, Towfiqu barbhuiya
#30
My big a*s forehead.
Image source: throwRA1898647
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