This document defines several genetic terms: congenital means present at birth but not necessarily inherited; hereditary means apparent at birth but may not show for years; autosomal dominant inheritance affects every person with an affected parent and is transmitted to offspring; autosomal recessive only affects siblings and has a 1 in 4 chance in siblings; X-linked dominant exhibits higher in females due to twice as many X chromosomes and females transmit to half offspring; X-linked recessive is much higher in males than females.