Childhood
On February 29, 1956, Aileen Pittman was born in Michigan to an abusive and violent family, she never met her father, who was a sociopath and schizophrenic (as he was serving time in prison), barely knew her teenage mother and was mistreated greatly by other relatives and friends. Wuornos’ parents (Diane and Leo Pittman) were married at 15 and 16 and they had a son (Keith Pittman) together a year after. The following year, two months before Aileen was born, Diane filed for divorce. Diane abandoned Keith and Aileen when they were six and four and they were legally adopted by their maternal grandparents, Lauri and Britta Wuornos. This adoption however, did not better the situation. Her grandmother was an alcoholic and her grandfather was extremely violent and explosive. During her childhood, her father was diagnosed with schizophrenia and took his life while serving jail time for child molestation. At the age of eleven, Wuornos engaged in sexual activities in return for food, cigarettes and drugs. She was also physically and sexually abused by her grandfather and sexually abused by her brother. At the age of fourteen, she became pregnant after being raped by a friend of her grandfather; she moved out of home temporarily to a home for unmarried mothers. She gave up her son for adoption immediately after he was born and moved back home. |