Where do chromosomes come from?

Chromosomes come from an individual's parents. The 46 chromosomes that a person has come in pairs, half from the mother and half from the father.

The mother provides the X chromosome to a child, and the father either contributes an X or a Y chromosome, called the sex chromosomes. The father's contribution is what determines if a baby is a boy or a girl. Males have one X and one Y chromosomes, and females have two X chromosomes.

The remaining chromosomes that a human being has are referred to as autosomal chromosomes. Scientifically, they are known as chromosome pairs one to 22.