After the surgery all or most of the transplanted hairs falls out.
Then your next growing cycle begins and the roots from the transplants re-grow new hairs.
Its possible that not 100% of those transplants come back & re-grow.
Some can get rejected.

http://www.livestrong.com/article/65964-...ansplants/

This is exactly what I plan on having done. My research has led me to Dr. Feller (who is touted as being one of the best FUE surgeons in the world). Hair pieces are working but the only let down right now is the hairline!
This picture is the hair style I have achieved- but the hairline is swept down and across- I'm young so I get away with it but if I could just lift the hair up and sweep it across then my hair would look as close to prefection as is humanly possible. Not to mention, it would just be a huge relief to me to not have to worry about wind moving the hair once I have spent about an hour agonizing over the minute placing of each strand!

So you'll have the hairline position of a 20year old for the rest of your life?

There is very little chance with todays techniques that there will be any significant non growth of newly transplanted hair in the hands of a qualified surgeon. The surgeon mentioned in the above post is well know and certainly qualified. A lot of guys on this forum are still under the impression that hair transplants are still like the transplants of ten to fifteen years ago which is simply not the case.

The problem is that I have had 5,000 plus transplants by a world renowned surgeon all placed into the frontal third of my scalp and while it looks natural I still am apprehensive about using my own hairline. The density is still fairly low and I'm not completely comfortable about how it would blend with a piece, I'd say the density in my transplanted area is around 40%. If I went for another procedure I could probably boost that density to 50% but I'm very leery of dropping another 10 grand and waiting a year for the results unless I'm 99% sure it will give me the density I'm comfortable with to place a piece behind.

I also think that using this technique would limit styling options, I would like to go for a brushed forward with the hairline spiked up. I think the most appropriate style for using a transplanted hairline with a piece behind would be brushed straight back or back and slightly to the side. Consequently this is how I have styled my hair for years and would like a change so this would defeat the purpose for me at least.

I keep going back and forth in my mind between using my existing hairline and just going for the full topper. I have seen really good hps in person and on this site that make me think the topper is the way to go. On the other hand, just when I think I have made up my mind I see pics on this site and others that just look so fake that I start to question my decision. I hope that doesn't offend anyone but this is just my opinion, I've seen really good and really bad examples.

As far as having a hairline like the one in the picture for the rest of your life goes.... I think it would be fine as long as the side hair stays in tact and adjustments to the density of the piece are made over the years. No matter how thick the density of the piece is the best your going to get with transplants is around 50% which would still allow you to reduce the piece density over time without a problem. What i mean is if you started with 50% density in the hairline with a higher density with the piece behind it could create a graduted hairline. Then with time the piece density could be ultimately be lowered to 50% to match with age.

Sorry for the long post... I just don't see many threads that directly address my situation.

I take everything you've said on board.
But the hairline in the picture is very straight with absolutely no recession.
This is fine for a young man in his twenties.
However, it would look odd on a middle aged man, especially (as you say) there is every likelihood that the temples will recede to some degree.

Maybe your hairline isn't as straight & low as the one pictured.

fair enough... you've got a point, my hairline isn't quite that low (execpt perhaps for the very center) and a bit more rounded.

This is exactly the same hairline on an older face.

I had HTs in my 30s and 20 years down the line, I'm so grateful for the conservative hairline I was given at the time.
Its become absolutely necessary for me to have recession at my age so that my hairpiece looks natural.
When I was younger, I don't think I'd have considered the future, so I'm just advising caution.

LOL!! thats too funny hersute... but I think it's exagerated just a bit.
The hairline on the older gent is set a little lower in your photo shop pic than the younger guy.

I'm 39 and my hairline is not even close to being that low but the very center of my hairline is four fingers up from the eye brows. The hairline in the pic you posted (which is hilarious) is more like three fingers up.

I think its a good thing though that you are cautioning younger guys about the pitfalls of transplanting a hairline to low.

I just plonked it on his head so that it went over his ears like the younger guy.
But you're right, it looks exaggerated.

It sounds like you know what you're doing and whatever you decide to do, I wish you the best of luck.

Thanks I appreciate the well wishes...

when I do finally pull the trigger on whatever avenue I decide to take I'll post the results. I'll even post pics if the results are good