People are probably familiar with the phrase "won the genetic lottery." It usually refers to someone physically blessed with athletic prowess or an attractive appearance.
But if there's winners, there must also be losers.
Reddit user blitzabub asked:
"How did you get screwed over genetically?"
Folliclely Challenged
"Nothing actually important, just bald."
~ DeadpointDude
"Hair everywhere else EXCEPT my head."
~ Astro_Afro1886
"If ever there is an apocalypse I will use the hair on my back to strain krill from the sea for food like a baleen whale."
"I call it my BACKup plan."
~ gmsteel
Sibling Rivalry
"My mom is beautiful, always has been. She was popular in high school & college, life of the party, belle of the ball kind of thing."
"My dad on the other hand looks like Mr. Miyagi with a touch of King Kong."
"I look like my dad. I'm female."
"My younger sister looks like my mom. High school was tough."
~ burrito_slug
This AND Baldness‽‽
"My dad’s 83 and in bad shape now. Sometimes when I’m over there, I have to change him."
"The man is exceptionally well endowed. I'm not."
"I can’t tell you how angry it made me the first time I saw it. I blame my mom."
~ topside_downes
"Maybe you got your mom's penis."
~ kingcoster
"You know, there's actually some studies on the matter. Apparently, you get your penis size from your maternal side—like baldness."
"If your mother's brother (maternal uncle) has a large penis, then the odds are good that you will also have a large penis."
"Your father determines whether you have a penis or vagina with X or Y chromosome in his sperm, but your mother determines the size of the penis."
"You really do have your mom's penis."
~ La_Saxofonista
Junk In The Trunk
"My dad has a big backside—looks like he only does glute workouts—all natural."
"Me, a girl, didn’t get those genes."
~ balmoan
"I have four sisters and a brother. Only my brother got my dad's perfect backside. And his long eyelashes..."
"My brother is handsome and the envy of my sister's for those two traits."
~ Pitiful_Winner2669
Thanks Mom
"Stress-induced dermatitis/eczema, plus missing out on my dad's blue eyes because mom has brown."
~ MiguelIstNeugierig
Unlce Fester
"I shaved my hair off during lockdown and it suddenly dawned on me how odd my head shape is."
"I hope I never go bald."
~ Suspicious-Front-208
"As a cancer patient, I agree. Never knew I had an ugly head but we’re talking uncle Fester ugly."
"All I needed was a lightbulb!"
"And 5 years later a new med is causing hair loss. I’m doing everything I can to hang on to it."
"I don’t want Uncle Fester back!"
~ dragonflyladyofskye
Intestinal Rumblings
"Super sensitive stomach to emotions and stress. Some type of IBS."
~ Entire-Try3739
"Same."
"I once had a girl I broke up with tell me she knew it was coming because of how much noise my stomach was making leading up to that conversation."
~ 9Solid
Just Like The Movie
"I used to rent a house to these twin brothers who were basically from the movie Twins; one was tall, athletic, funny, outgoing, always had a girl on his arm, the other was short, fat, balding (despite being 22 at the time) and had a miserable personality."
"I ran into the popular one a few years later on a train platform in Brooklyn at like 2am. He told me he was working on Wall Street now and introduced me to his fiancée, who was an actual model."
"I asked about his brother and he said, 'he's basically a hermit now, he lives in Maine and doesn't really leave the house'. That must have been rough growing up for the ugly one."
~ A911owner
Family History
"Every family member in the last 2 generations who has lived past the age of 50 has died of cancer. Plus my 14-year-old brother."
"Thaaaaaaaaaaaanks, genetics. I'm SO looking forward to my 60s."
"My sister had a full genetic workup—zero markers. My own theory is it's our immune system is particularly bad at fighting cancer."
"There are 8 different cancers in my family. Yippee?"
"I do every screening faithfully, control my weight, diet, and exercise. My plan is to find it early, treat it aggressively, then move on with whatever my life looks like."
~ Toirneach
Secret Superpower
"Growing skin tags is my superpower."
"Thanks mom."
~ Greyspeir
"Same."
"I have a ton of tiny, invisible ones all over my neck and chest, a few here and there on my body and right next to my eye."
"Yay."
~ IllyriaGodKing
Toothsome
"Teeth. My mom had absolutely perfect chompers, never even had a cavity in her life. When we'd eat popcorn she would munch on the unpopped kernels, like her teeth were made of steel."
"My dad had full dentures by the time I was born."
"My teeth suck. I landed somewhere in the middle in that I still have most of my teeth, but lots of crowns, a few root canals, plenty of fillings and one implant (so far)."
~ vonkeswick
"Oh God, I'm right there with you."
"Three root canals and tons of other work."
"Anytime I see a new dentist it's a whole conversation."
~ Hidden_Beck
Missing Medical History
"I got a rare eye disease called Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP) that nobody else in my immediate family has. I made my parents take me to the doctor when I realized I couldn’t see at night the way my friends could (around 13 years old)."
"Turns out, the rods in my eyes are slowly dying, and I’m losing all my vision. Have less than 20% now (age 35)."
"We found out my dad’s cousin has it, too, but didn’t even know because he didn’t have the resources to see a doctor—just threw his hands in the air and went blind."
"So yeah, I’d call that losing the genetic lottery in a way."
~ thetransparenthand
"I have RP as well. Hang in there!"
"Lots of cool treatments we can hopefully benefit from sometime in the future."
~ rockychamp1976
From Both Sides
"OCD. My dad's mom was a hoarder, and so was my mom's mom."
"I thought that's all there was to it until I got diagnosed, and then my mom was like, 'Oh yeah, Mom had that. She used to start checking the stove at 11am and checked it repeatedly until 11pm. By the way, hoarding is a manifestation of OCD. Didn't Mamaw do that, too?'."
"I just thought they both had like residual habits from the Depression era, and mom just came in like Paul Harvey with the rest of the story."
~ Impressive_Hat_2578
"OCD is wild. I was diagnosed and once I was, I started noticing behavioral patterns in some of my extended (and immediate) family that fit the bill too."
"Of course none of them were diagnosed (different generation), and would be appalled if I even brought it up… but the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree with this stuff, that’s for sure."
~ Responsible-Sea-423
Part Bee
"I get way more earwax buildup than the regular person. So much so that it doesn't naturally clear itself out, leading to me waking up almost completely deaf every couple of weeks."
"The only way to fix it is to put mineral oil and hydrogen peroxide in my ears and lie on my side to let the oil soak into the wax to soften it up. The peroxide gets behind the wax and bubbles up to create enough of an opening between the wax and my ear canal that I can shoot water into it and clear out the wax."
"I usually wind up having a clump of wax come out of each ear that's about the size of a pencil eraser. Sometimes they'll get so clogged that it takes a couple of days of doing this over and over until I can clear out the wax."
~ Reach-Nirvana
Torso
"I have a very large torso and short limbs, my wingspan is 6 inches shorter than my height, and I have to lower the seat in a car all the way, or I can stick my head out the sunroof usually."
~ BigBoiBoopin
"Same here! I'm 6'0'' and my inseam is like 30". I sit taller than anybody I know."
"Short arms and smaller than average hands, too. Proportions are all f*cked up."
~ hereisnoY
How did you lose the genetic lottery?
