Every man on my mother's side (even once or twice removed cousins, my grandfather's cousins, everyone) has male pattern baldness. The women have relatively thin hair in their old age. On my dad's side, he and his father both have full heads of hair into their old age. I turned 30 this year and no sign of baldness yet, but I do dread a day when someone tells me they see a bald spot at the back.

There's still hope. And I'm holding onto that hope like crazy.

hit the finasteride at the first sign.. the earlier the better

Both my maternal grandfather and my maternal uncle are bald. I'm 43 and have a beautiful head of hair.

It's a bit more complex than just the X chromosome. 80% of men will get male pattern baldness either way. The age of onset is what changes the most, but the X chromosome only has 6 of 63 genes involved. So, yes, but also no.