Kriti Mehrotra
It was in the early 1990s when the entire world was left baffled to the very core as law enforcement officials from Florida apprehended the first-ever female serial killer after a year of terror. After all, as explored in Netflix’s ‘Aileen: Queen of the Serial Killers,’ nomad turned street prostitute Aileen Wuornos had allegedly killed 7 men from November 30, 1989, to November 19, 1990. She vehemently maintained that her actions were entirely in self-defense as the victims had either attempted to rape or raped her, which triggered her trauma and how she came to be with child.
Aileen Wuornos Reportedly Became Pregnant From an Alleged Sexual Assault
Although Aileen was born on February 29, 1956, to Diane Wuornos and Leo Pittman as their second child, she was primarily raised by her maternal grandparents, Britta and Lauri Wuornos. She actually never met her biological father since her mother had filed for divorce two months before she was born, only for her to then abandon their 2 kids with her parents so as to start anew. According to records, both sets of parents were alcoholics, but the biological ones were in far more trouble during their children’s early years owing to personal, legal, and financial reasons.
Diane was actually just 14 when she had tied the knot with 18-year-old Leo on June 3, 1954, making her 16 by the time she had welcomed both Aileen and her elder brother into the world. What followed in the ensuing 4 years were hard times as the father was out of the picture, just for her to get married again in 1959, before deciding in January 1960, it would be better if she left. The siblings were thankfully adopted by their grandparents within two months, yet their subsequent childhood was not stable in any capacity because there was reported abuse as well as assault.
Diane abandoned her children in 1960, Leo was sentenced to a life term in 1967 for previously having kidnapped and raped a 7-year-old girl, and the grandparents were also allegedly abusive. In fact, as per reports, Aileen claimed her grandfather beat her, called her names, and sexually assaulted her when she was young, which soon led her to engage in sexual acts with others too. However, when she became pregnant as an early teen, she indicated that while she wasn’t certain of the identity of the baby’s father, it could be a family friend who had raped her around that time.
Aileen Wuornos Was Forced to Give Her Child Up For Adoption
It was on March 23, 1971, when Aileen gave birth to a healthy baby boy at a maternity supportive housing program called Home for Unwed Mothers in her hometown of Detroit, Michigan. According to records, she had hidden her pregnancy for six months because she was afraid and already knew the reaction her religious family would have, and they did indeed blame her. In fact, almost immediately after she welcomed her son, she was reportedly forced to give him up for adoption by her grandfather. That’s when she turned to the street life of alcohol, drugs, and prostitution.
Since Aileen had just turned 15 when she had her son before suddenly losing him to adoption without allegedly having a say in the matter, it deeply affected her mental health. In fact, she dropped out of school a few months later, ran away, became involved in nefarious activities, returned home, and was then ultimately kicked out following a dispute with her grandfather. By this point, she had already lost her 54-year-old grandmother to liver failure – on July 7, 1971 – so the idea of not even having a home or family anymore cut her even deeper.
In the years that followed, Aileen’s grandfather died by suicide on March 12, 1976, at 65, and then her 21-year-old elder brother also passed away from esophageal cancer on July 17, 1976. Thus, she continued to serve as a street prostitute to earn her living, having no idea about where her only remaining immediate family member was because it was a closed adoption. In other words, there is no public information available about Aileen’s son; all we know is that he is 54 years old as of writing. The truth is, a closed adoption can only be opened with the consent of both the parent and the child, so there seems to be no way the files can ever be publicly accessible. After all, after being convicted on 6 counts of first-degree murder, Aileen was executed by lethal injection on October 9, 2002.
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