At age 11, Wuornos engaged in sexual activities in school in exchange for cigarettes, drugs, and food. She had also engaged in sexual activities with her brother.



In 1970, at age 14, she became pregnant, having been raped by a friend of her grandfather.

Wuornos gave birth at a home for unwed mothers, and the child was placed for adoption.

When she was 15, her grandfather threw her out of the house, and she began supporting herself as a prostitute and living in the woods near her old home.