Genes determine almost all of our physical and nonphysical features. We inherit all of our genes from our parents, but they’re not always for the better. Some are bad, and we would have been better off without them.

People have ended up with severe and life-threatening conditions simply due to inheriting the wrong genes. We’re not talking about ailments like Down syndrome; we mean unbelievable conditions you would have never imagined could be linked to your genes.

10 Violence Genes

Variants of the MAOA gene and the cadherin 13 (CDH13) gene are referred to as “warrior genes” because they are linked with violent behavior. A 2014 study by Finnish researchers revealed that criminals with the genes were responsible for between five and ten percent of all crimes committed in Finland.

If that wasn’t scary enough, people with these warrior genes are 13 times more likely to become repeat offenders than those without the genes. The 900 convicts involved in the study were responsible for a total of 1,154 murders, attempted murders, manslaughters, and violent assaults.

However, having the warrior genes by no means guarantees that one will become violent. In fact, researchers noted that most of the people with the genes will never take to crime. They also added that the effects of the genes can be suppressed with proper upbringing. Some researchers think the MAOA and CDH13 genes cannot be blamed for violent acts committed by people, since half of the Finnish population probably has them.^[1]

9 Suicide Gene

Scientists have discovered a link between depression, suicide, and the RGS2 gene. A 2011 study led by John Mann of the New York State Psychiatric Institute revealed that one variant of the RGS2 gene could cause depression, while another variant could make people more prone to suicide.

Researchers believe the RGS2 gene could explain why generations of the same family sometimes commit suicide. There are suspicions that the suicide variant could be present in the family of famous writer Ernest Hemingway (pictured center above with his family), who committed suicide in 1961 after attempting suicide earlier the same year. Hemingway’s father also committed suicide in 1928, and so did Hemingway’s granddaughter and two of his siblings.

The study involved 412 people suffering from serious depression. Of that group, 154 had attempted suicide sometime in the past. The study revealed that 43 percent of the 154 people had aggressively suicidal variants of the RGS2, while one fifth had copies of a less suicidal variant.

While Mann agreed that detection of the gene could be used an in indicator of someone’s risk of suicide, he added that the study was inconclusive and mentioned that further research was required to reach a definite conclusion.^[2]

8 Trauma Gene

Researchers have discovered that parents could transfer the effects of traumatic experiences they’ve suffered to their offspring through their genes. This has been observed in descendants of slaves, survivors of the Holocaust, and veterans of the Vietnam War, who have genetically transferred post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) to their offspring.

The research was led by Dr. Rachel Yehuda of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in Manhattan. Dr. Yehuda explained that when people experience a deeply traumatic event, it can actually alter their genes. These changes are passed down to descendants.

A Jew herself, Dr. Yehuda sampled several Jewish neighbors who were descendants of the Holocaust survivors as part of the study. She discovered their hormones closely resembled those of PTSD-afflicted veterans of the Vietnam war. Also, the amygdala—the part of the brain responsible for processing emotions—was overly active like those of Vietnam veterans.

Descendants of black slaves also suffer from similar problems. In fact, sociologist Dr. Joy DeGruy even coined the term “Post Traumatic Slave Disorder” to refer to the effects of slavery in the genes of the descendants of black slaves.^[3]

7 Infidelity Gene

The DRD4 gene is responsible for regulating the dopamine levels in our bodies. Dopamine is a chemical released in the brain and is associated with things like motivation and sexual satisfaction. Our bodies consider it a sort of reward, which is why it is usually released when we engage in fun behaviors like gambling, drinking, and sex.

A 2010 study led by Justin Garcia of Binghamton University, New York, has revealed that a variant of the DRD4 gene could actually make people more prone to cheating on their partners. Garcia and his team reached this conclusion after studying 181 young people. The researchers discovered that people with the gene were more likely to engage in infidelity and one-night stands.

However, Garcia says that unfaithful partners should not consider the presence of the gene variant an excuse for their philandering behavior. He also added that having this variant of the DRD4 gene does not guarantee that a person will cheat.^[4]

6 Death Genes

Series of studies on both humans and animals indicate that females live longer than males. In humans, the life expectancy of men and women differs by five to six years on average, with the women lasting longer. Research has revealed that this is caused by genes referred to as the “Mother’s Curse.”

The Mother’s Curse is called such it is in the mitochondrial DNA, which comes from the mother. Both sexes actually inherit the genes, but they are unfavorable to males, since they make them age faster and die earlier than women. However, the genes have no effects on females, who will pass them to their own offspring.^[5]

5 Back Pain Genes

In 2018, researchers revealed the discovery of three genes linked to chronic back pain after a study involving 29,000 suffering from the condition. The group was part of a larger set of 158,000 Europeans involved in the study.

One is the SOX5 gene, which is the most dominant of the three genes. It is actively involved in our embryonic development. Interestingly, lab rats involved in an earlier study were left with skeletal defects after the gene was deactivated in their bodies.

As for the two other genes, one is involved in the development of our spinal cord, while the other is linked to intervertebral disc herniation (aka “slipped disc”), a medical condition that can cause back pain.^[6] The intervertebral discs are the principal joints between the vertebrae of the spinal column.

4 Pessimistic Gene

A team of researchers led by Rebecca M. Todd of the University of British Columbia have discovered that being pessimistic or just having negative thoughts could all be in the genes. The gene responsible is the ADRA2B gene, which is one of the many genes responsible for our emotions.

However, the ADRA2B gene must be missing some amino acids to cause the pessimistic behavior. People with the missing amino acids are more likely to notice negative events more readily than they observe positive or neutral events. For instance, they will notice the criminal-like character in a street faster than they notice a group of playful children.

The pessimistic ADRA2B gene was discovered during a study involving 200 people. The group were shown two words in quick succession and asked to pay attention to the second word. Most people saw the first word but often had problems recognizing the second word.^[7]

However, people with the pessimistic ADRA2B gene often recognized the second word whenever it was a more emotion-evoking word, like “rape” or “orgasm.” Some researchers, like Ahmad R. Hariri of Duke University, believe the existence of a pessimistic gene is a fallacy. He says pessimistic behavior is not linked to a single gene but several.

3 The Lung Problem Gene

The Vikings suffered from severe intestinal worm infestations. This is evident in poop samples recovered from ancient Viking latrines in modern Denmark. The worms often secreted dangerous enzymes called proteases, which can damage crucial internal organs, including the liver and lungs.

The immune systems of the Vikings prevented any damage due to a mutation in the alpha-1-antitrypsin (A1AT) gene. The regular A1AT gene protects our organs from proteases produced by our immune system. However, the mutated version also protects the Vikings from proteases secreted by the worms.

Without the regular or mutated A1AT genes, proteases would damage the lungs, causing health conditions like chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and emphysema. However, researchers from the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine have observed that many Viking descendants—who number over 300 million today—suffer from lung problems like emphysema.

Research revealed that the descendants of the Vikings are at a higher risk of lung problems because the mutated A1AT genes they inherited from their ancestors do not offer the same amount of protection against the proteases created by the immune system. Of course, the risk of a Viking descendant developing lung problems becomes higher if the person is a smoker.^[8]

2 Sleeplessness Genes

A study involving 113,006 people revealed the existence of seven genes that could cause insomnia. Interestingly, some of these genes were already known to cause other unfavorable conditions, like depression, anxiety disorders, and restless legs syndrome (RLS), which can all lead to insomnia. It’s little wonder that people with insomnia often suffer from one or more of these conditions at the same time.

One of the genes is the MEIS1 gene, which is also associated with RLS and periodic limb movements of sleep (PLMS). RLS sufferers often have the urge to move their legs, leading to sleeplessness and fatigue. PLMS is similar, except that sufferers move their limbs in their sleep without waking. However, they are often left tired the next day.^[9]

1 Talking Gene

It is commonly held that women talk more than men. This claim is backed by research, which shows that women say around 20,000 words per day, while men say just 7,000. Women also pick up languages faster than men and learn to speak and read younger.

A study conducted by the University of Maryland School of Medicine indicates that this could all be in the genes. The researchers pinpointed the FOXP2 gene, which is one of the many genes responsible for speech in humans. The FOXP2 gene secretes a special protein in the brain. Researchers have linked that protein to the generally more talkative nature of women.

The study involved a small sample group of just ten children: five male and five female. A check on their brains revealed girls had 30 percent more of the protein made by the gene than boys. However, while the researchers agree that their study is a good start, they consider it inconclusive since it involved a small sample group.^[10]

Losing a child is every parent’s worst nightmare, a permanently life-altering event that turns their world upside down. Such tragedies are arguably at their worst when foul play is involved or when a child simply vanishes, leaving the parents deprived of closure.

Some parents who have lost a child in extreme circumstances will take their grief and channel it into a search for answers. These searches can last years (and may not bring closure), but all of the following victims’ parents followed their instincts and just refused to give up.

10 Jerry Michael Williams

Jerry Michael “Mike” Williams went duck hunting on Lake Seminole on the Florida-Georgia border in December 2000 and never returned. His best friend, Brian Winchester, found his boat and car but no trace of his body. Police believed that he had probably drowned and been eaten by alligators.

However, Mike’s mother, Cheryl, had an instinct that they were wrong. She said of visiting the lake: “And all of sudden a voice comes in my head, Mike is not in Lake Seminole, he did not drown.” Mike’s wife Denise didn’t agree and pressed ahead with a memorial service and then collected $1.7 million in life insurance.

Cheryl spent her life savings searching for the truth. She took out billboard adverts and stood on busy streets with handmade signs appealing for help. Cheryl wrote to the governor of Florida every day for nine years. She finally had a breakthrough after meeting with experts who told her that alligators don’t feed in cold weather.

Denise eventually married Mike’s friend Brian and banned Cheryl from seeing her granddaughter unless she stopped digging for clues. The pair ultimately divorced, and in 2016, Brian kidnapped Denise at gunpoint. As part of a sentencing deal, Brian admitted that he had lured Mike to the lake and shot him—in a plot hatched with Denise so that they could be together. Denise was charged with murder and received a life sentence in 2019. In 2016, Brian showed police where he had hidden Mike’s body, and Cheryl was able to bury her son after a campaign lasting 16 years.^[1]

9 Julie Ward

Photographer Julie Ward went missing from the Masai Mara National Reserve in Kenya in September 1988. Her father, John, immediately flew out to begin a search. It was the first of over 100 visits he would make in a personal investigation that would cost him around £2 million.

John hired spotter planes and found Julie’s abandoned jeep with the letters “SOS” scrawled in dust. Julie’s mutilated and burned remains were discovered nearby. Police claimed Julie had been the victim of an animal attack or suicide. John knew this was impossible, and he suspected Chief Warden Simon Makallah. Makallah claimed he had stumbled across Julie’s charred remains by following the direction of vultures and that John had a vendetta against him.

Police refused to launch a murder inquiry, so John appealed to the British government, who sent detectives from Scotland Yard. Two rangers were arrested for murder. The case collapsed, however, due to lack of evidence, with the judge declaring that there had been a cover-up to protect Kenya’s tourist industry.

John continued to expose the Kenyan police’s corruption, and in 1999, Makallah stood trial for Julie’s murder but was acquitted with no chance of a retrial. In 2004, a UK court ruled that Julie was unlawfully killed, not a victim of suicide or an animal attack.^[2] John has written a book called The Animals are Innocent.

8 Suzy Lamplugh

On July 28, 1986, real estate agent Suzy Lamplugh, 25, went to meet a client and vanished. Witnesses recall a smartly dressed man in a BMW holding a bottle of champagne. He was thought to be the mysterious “Mr. Kipper,” whose name Suzy had written in her diary. Her disappearance is still one of the UK’s biggest mysteries.

By December 1986, Suzy’s parents, Paul and Diana, launched a trust in her honor. The charity was run from an office in the family’s garden, and Diana went on to become a household name in Britain. The case gave her a platform to talk about personal safety in a way that no one had before. They distributed hundreds of free personal alarms, known as “Suzy Alarms,” to students.

The couple worked to push through new laws for stalking and harassment victims and were awarded an OBE. In 1994, Suzy was declared dead. Paul and Diana have both since died, but the Suzy Lamplugh Trust continues their work.^[3]

7 Kendrick Johnson

In January 2013, Kendrick Johnson, 17, was found dead inside a rolled up gym mat at Lowndes High School in Valdosta, Georgia. He had no apparent injuries, and police believed he became trapped after crawling in to retrieve his shoes. Kendrick’s parents believe he was murdered. Their campaign has included protests outside the court and school, where they appealed for Kendrick to be remembered on Graduation Day.

The family have issued lawsuits against the school, Lowndes County, and 38 classmates who they suspect were involved. Three autopsies have been performed, and Kendrick’s body has been exhumed twice at his parents’ request. Two autopsies found the cause of death to be blunt force trauma—contradicting the original ruling of accidental death.

The family owe nearly $300,000 in legal fees but continue their fight for justice.^[4]

6 Suzanne Lyall

On March 2, 1998, Suzanne Lyall, 19, caught the bus home from the mall. Witnesses saw the student get off near her campus in Albany, New York, but she was never seen again.

Suzanne’s parents, Doug and Mary, knew from the start that they had to keep the case in the news. Mary said, “If you don’t sit back and you don’t talk about what is going on, the case is just going to go cold.” They founded the Center for Hope in 2003 to offer advice to families of missing persons. They also pushed through “Suzanne’s Law,” which raised the age at or under which a missing person must be reported to the National Crime Information Center to 21. (It was originally 18.)^[5]

The Lyalls have used their imagination to publicize cold cases. They created a deck of playing cards featuring missing people and placed flyers in tax forms. Doug died in 2015. Mary is working with the Cold Case Analysis Center at the College of Saint Rose in Albany, looking for answers for her and other families of the missing.

5 Keith Bennett

Keith Bennett 12, was walking to his grandmother’s house in Manchester, UK, when he was lured into a van driven by Myra Hindley. She drove him to Saddleworth Moor, where her partner, Ian Brady, was waiting. Keith was murdered and buried on the vast, open moor. In 1966, Brady and Hindley were jailed for killing a total of five children. All the victims’ bodies were found on the moor—except for Keith’s.

His mother Winnie then began a search for his lonely grave that would last her lifetime. The family have made thousands of trips to the moor, sometimes with sniffer dogs and psychics. Winnie appealed directly to the killers by DVD and letter for any scrap of information that could help.

In 1991, Brady told Keith’s brother Alan that he had written a letter, to be opened after his death, revealing the exact location of the body. Brady died in 2017, leaving two locked briefcases with his solicitor. Police went to court to obtain a warrant to open the cases but were refused.

Winnie died in 2012 without finding her son.^[6] The Bennett family are still searching for Keith.

4 The Hillsborough 96

On April 15, 1989, 53,000 football fans began arriving for a match between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest at Hillsborough in Sheffield, UK. Supporters were separated into two standing areas. Liverpool fans were sent to the Leppings Lane terrace, which had just seven turnstiles for 10,000 people to file through. No checks were in place to count the numbers, so crowds began to build.

Police chief David Duckenfield signaled for the match to begin, despite some fans being trapped in the entrances. Barriers collapsed, and people were crushed due to sheer numbers. Ultimately, 96 people lost their lives. In the aftermath, police altered witness statements and blamed the fans. Newspapers printed false allegations that fans had robbed dying victims and stopped paramedics from getting through.

An inquest found that the deaths were “accidental.” The furious families who had gathered at court formed a protest group to challenge this ruling. The Hillsborough Justice Campaign raised funds and brought a private prosecution against Duckenfield. The manslaughter trial began in June 2000, but the jury failed to reach a verdict.

In April 2016, a new inquest that had lasted 267 days found that the 96 had been unlawfully killed. David Duckenfield will be retried in October 2019 for gross negligence manslaughter. The families’ campaign has now lasted for 30 years.^[7]

3 Su Taraskiewicz

Susan “Su” Taraskiewicz was 27 when she became the first female ramp supervisor at Northwestern Airlines. Su had a tough time in the male-dominated industry. Some employees were involved in credit card fraud at Boston’s Logan International Airport and suspected Su was a police informant. She suffered daily intimidation and abuse. Sinister graffiti appeared around the airport—including a coffin with her name on it.

On September 12, 1992, Su left work at 1:00 AM to pick up sandwiches for her crew. When she didn’t return, no one raised the alarm, and 36 hours later, her body was found in the trunk of her car. She had been murdered. Police confirmed that Su was not an informant, but no arrests were made.

A year later, Su’s mother Marlene finally found the courage to look through her daughter’s bedroom and found a diary detailing the abuse Su had suffered. Marlene used this evidence to bring a sexual harassment claim against the airline and won $75,000. The airline also offered a $250,000 reward for information.

On the 25th anniversary of Su’s death, Marlene held a vigil at Logan Airport. The district attorney has vowed to keep the case open, and Marlene has said, “I am a very healthy woman and I am not going away.”^[8]

2 Helen McCourt

Helen McCourt, 22, disappeared while walking home on a rainy night in 1988. Hundreds of villagers turned out to search for Helen in Billinge, UK. Police interviewed pub landlord Ian Simms, who appeared nervous. They searched his car and found Helen’s earring and spots of her blood. Helen’s body has never been found, and Simms is a rare example of someone who was convicted of murder despite investigators having no body. He received a life sentence in 1989.

Helen’s mother Marie and her family have since spent every weekend looking for Helen in fields, sewers, and ditches. They have drained ponds and crawled through mine shafts in their search. Marie has campaigned for “Helen’s Law,” which stipulates that murderers will not be granted parole unless they reveal where they hid the victim’s body.^[9] This was made law in July 2019.

Simms was recently photographed out shopping on day release. He has never spoken about the murder.

1 Ron Goldman

On June 12, 1994, Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman were murdered outside her home. Nicole’s ex-husband O.J. Simpson was arrested. Millions watched Simpson’s acquittal live on TV and saw the Goldman family react with shock and despair.^[10]

Ron’s father Fred launched a wrongful death lawsuit. The jury heard Simpson testify for the first time, and he was found liable and ordered to pay the families $33.5 million.

Simpson failed to pay, and when he wrote a book called If I Did It, Fred seized the copyright, media, and movie rights. When the publishers pulled out, Fred got it published himself, now titled If I Did It: Confessions of the Killer, as he felt the book was an important confession. The Goldmans donated some of the profits to their charity, the Ron Goldman Foundation for Justice.

I’m a true crime enthusiast and a lover of words and all things off-kilter.

Adoptive Parents are heroes in the eyes of our society. They take in children whose families cannot care for them and give them homes, food, clothes and other basic essentials. At least that is what they are supposed to do. In some (thankfully few) cases adoptive parents choose to neglect, abuse and even kill the children in their care. While not all adoptive parents are bad, society does not recognize that not all adoptive parents are heroes, even to the detriment of the children in their care.

10 Times Virtue Signalling Ended In Disaster

10 Myka Staufer

“Re-Homing” is the euphemism for the process of adoptive parents changing their minds and giving away their adopted child. Although it is an alarmingly common occurrence, no instance of re-homing has been more published than the Huxley Staufer case. Huxley is a young boy from China, who was adopted by the Staufer family in 2017, and helped accelerate Myka’s fame as a Mommy Blogger slash “influencer”. Particularly in regards to Huxley’s autism and Staufer’s seeming willingness to care for him. That was the story that was portrayed across the family’s social media, however behind closed doors, the truth was anything but.

According to the Staufer’s, Huxley had become too difficult for them to handle so they decided to place him in a care home, both for his benefit and the benefit of their other children. Backlash to the Staufer’s decision was quick and severe, with the couple receiving international condemnation. Recently, law enforcement in Ohio have announced an investigation into the Staufer’s and Huxley’s rehoming, particularly in regards to ensuring Huxley’s safety.^[1]

9 Tony Spilotro

The psychotic Las Vegas mobster Tony Spilotro was feared by everyone who knew of him. Among his numerous exploits, Spilotro allegedly killed a man by crushing his head in a vice, ran the Hole in the Wall Gang in Las Vegas and was chief enforcer for many of Las Vegas’s mob owned casinos. His life was immortalized in the movie Casino where the character Nicky Santoro was based on him. He also brought his work home with him, affecting his wife Nancy and their adopted son Vincent. According to Vincent’s own recollection, he watched his father beat a man unconscious over a gambling debt, and was home when drunken Las Vegas police officers shot up the Spilotro home. After Tony Spilotro was killed in 1986 his son was left without a father, which may have saved his life, as Vincint lives a law abiding life today, free from Tony Spilatro’s legacy.^[2]

8 Mr and Mrs Hammersley

In 1952 Mr and Mrs Hammersley adopted a young boy who they named William, in what was supposed to be a happy forever home, caring for him when his mother couldn’t. Throughout his childhood, William was whipped repeatedly by his adoptive father, sexually abused by an Anglican minister in what William later wrote was a way for his adoptive parents to gain favour in the church in order to adopt a daughter. Eventually William dropped out of school and left his adoptive parents’ home, full of anger. As a result of his abandonment and subsequent abuse, William fell into drug and alcohol addiction, drug addiction, and depression. He was eventually able to put his life together and live as a productive member of society, but he could never fully shake the demons of his past. William, unlike many adoptees who were adopted into bad situations, was able to legally rectify his situation. In 2019 he applied for an Adoption Discharge, which under Australian law would nullify his original adoption order and legally recognize his biological parents as his legal parents. This order was granted on August 1 2019 and William had his status at birth restored. Unfortunately William died from cancer on September 3 2019 shortly after his discharge was granted.^[3]

7 Jeane Newmaker

In 1996 pediatric nurse Jeane Newmaker adopted 7 year old Candace Newmaker, a child who had been in and out of various foster homes her entire life. Candace had difficulty attaching to her adoptive mother and new surroundings and acted out frequently. Newmaker took Canadace to a variety of therapists in an attempt to get her to better bond. In 2000, Newmaker took Candace to a psychotherapist named Connell Watkins, who specialised in, “re-birthing,” therapy. This therapy, which has been discredited by all psychiatric organisations, involves wrapping a patient in pillows and blankets in order to simulate birth. According to Newmaker, she had hoped that the therapy would lead to her adopted daughter bonding to her as if she had been born to her. Unfortunately, the reality could not be further from the truth.

On April 18 2000 while in Watkins office, Candace was covered in pillows and blankets forcibly by 5 adults, weighing roughly 600 pounds compared to the 70 pound child. Throughout the 40 minute session, Candace repeatedly said that she could not breathe and that she was going to die. Nobody did anything to alleviate the pressure on Candace as they were assured it was normal. After 40 minutes Jeane asked her if she wanted to be born, and Candace responded with the word, “no.” It was her last word before slipping into a coma and dying the next day. All parties involved in the death were charged and convicted of varying degrees of child abuse, and served prison time for their actions.^[4]

6 Woody Allen

Although he never formally adopted his partner Mia Farrow’s adopted daughter Soon Yi Previn, Farrow’s partner Woody Allen had a large role in her upbringing, being the closest thing she ever had to a father. This makes Allen’s relationship and marriage to Soon Yi extremely shocking even by today’s social standards. Allen first met Soon Yi in 1979 when Soon Yi was adopted by Mia Farrow. Although they did not begin their relationship until Soon Yi was 20, nude photos were rumored to have been found of her when she was allegedly underaged, supposedly taken by Allen. This was not the only time Allen was accused of inappropriate behavior with an adopted child. In 1992 Allen’s adopted daughter Dylan Farrow accused him of sexually abusing her throughout her childhood beginning when she was 7. According to Allen, he does not listen to the public condemnation of his relationship with the woman whom he helped raise. Soon Yi says that she is upset by the treatment that Allen has endured in the public sphere in the 2 decades since they’ve been together. As of today, Allen and Yi are still married with children, with Allen never facing legal actions or investigation for his activities.^[5]

10 Parents Who Pretended Their Children Were Seriously Ill

5 Lauri and Britta Wuornos

Lauri and Britta Wuornos were the parents of Diane Wuornos and the grandparents of Kieth and Aileen Pittman, the children of Diane, and a man named Leo Dale Pittman. Given the instability in Diane’s life, Keith and Aileen went to live with their grandparents in 1960 and were legally adopted by them a few months later, changing their last name to Wuornos. According to Aileen, both of her grandparents were alcoholics, and that her adoptive father was extremely abusive. In particular he would force Aileen to strip naked before heavily beating her. He also sexually abused her, and allowed his friends to do the same. In 1971 Aileen, at the age of 14 gave birth to a son fathered by one of Lauri’s friends, which she was forced to give up for adoption. The abuse continued until Britta Wuranos died of liver failure and Lauri subsequently kicked Aileen out of the house. The despreate and alone teenager turned to prostitution to survive.

This trauma stayed with Aileen for the rest of her life as she drifted across the United States, commuting small crimes and engaging in a series of extremely unstable relationships. Eventually Aileen would become America’s first female serial killer, murdering at least 7 men with a handgun after posing as a prostitute to get into their cars. At her trial, her defence used the abuse she suffered during childhood as a mitigating factor in her sentencing. According to several mental health experts, Aileen was suffering from a myriad of mental illnesses brought on by her childhood experiences. This did little to sway the court and Aileen was sentenced to death and executed in 2002.^[6]

4 Nathan and Pearl Berkowitz

Unlike Aileen Wuoranos who was adopted within her family, David Berkowitz was adopted by 2 complete strangers who were totally unprepared to raise a child, with Nathan considering his adoption a mistake. The couple did little to contain their son’s violent anger even as he grew bigger and more violent. David’s behavior got worse after his adoptive mother Pearl died when he was 14. Nathan soon after remarried and moved the family to Florida, which would negatively affect David’s mental state. In order to escape, David joined the army where he learned how to properly handle firearms and excelled as a marksman.

This isolation and anger followed David in the army, and in his post army life, where he returned to New York City and lived alone, working a series of odd jobs. Eventually mental illness and anger took control of David’s life and a compulsion to kill formed. Berkowitz committed his first murders on Christmas Eve 1975 when he stabbed 2 women, only one of which was identified. He proceeded to terrorize New York City, gunning down random couples with a .44 revolver. He made contact with New York Police through a letter in which he declared himself to be The Son of Sam and that he would not stop killing. Eventually he was caught after receiving a parking ticket at the scene of his final murder. He pled guilty to his crimes in 1978, and was sentenced to life in prison, where he remains to this day.^[7]

3 Mathew Scully Hicks

In what British authorities now acknowledge was a wrongful adoption, Mathew Scully Hicks and his husband Craig Scully-Hicks adopted a baby named Shayla O’Brien, who they renamed Elsie Scully-Hicks on May 12 2016, after several months of pre-adoption care. Mathew subjected her to months of horrific abuse before she succumbed to her injuries on May 25 2016. According to police and social service reports, Scully-Hicks threw the young child down the stairs, shook her, screamed explicitly at her, broke her legs, among other abusive actions. Scully-Hicks, who denied abusing his adopted daughter, and claimed that a fall from a changing table had led to her death. Even after he was convicted, he expressed no remorse for his crimes, remaining emotionless throughout his trial and sentencing. Given this lack of remorse and responsibility, Scully-Hicks was sentenced to life in prison with no parole for 18 years for his appalling crimes.^[8]

2 Lori Vallow

Lori Vallow was once a normal mother to 2 children, her biological daughter Tylee Ryan and adopted son JJ Vallow. This came to an end at an unknown time, when the children were murdered and buried on a property owned by Vallow’s husband Chad Daybell. The children first disappeared in September 2019, and after extended family members contacted authorities to have a welfare check performed. The children were obviously nowhere to be found, leading Vallow and Daybell to flee Hawaii where they were arrested on February 20 2020 in connection to the children’s disappearance, however they have yet to be charged with murder.

Further investigation into the couple revealed that they believed in a number of doomsday conspiracy theories and that the world would be coming to an end soon. As of now Lori Vallow, along with Chad Daybell are the prime suspects in the deaths of the children as well as deaths of their previous spouses which are now under reinvestigation as they sit in prison charged with a series of smaller offenses.^[9]

1 Jennifer and Sarah Hart

Jennifer and Sarah Hart were a lesbian couple who adopted 6 African American children from foster care at varying ages. One of their children became famous after a photo of them hugging a police officer at a protest went viral as a sign of unity between 2 communities that had long been at odds. The illusion of a happy, multicultural lesbian family came to an end on March 26 2018 when Sarah and Jennifer fed each of their children a large quantity of benadryl, knocking them unconscious, and put them into the family car, and Jennifer Hart drove off of a cliff into the Pacific Ocean. It is believed that the pressure of a CPS investigation into the couple on the suspicion of neglect led to the Harts murdering their children. According to reports filed by the neighbors, the Harts had been starving the children as punishment for minor infractions, and the children were becoming malnourished. Given their reaction to the abuse allegations, it is clear they had some merit.^[10]

10 Terrifying Examples Of Children Murdering Their Parents

Parents in public are often very different from parents in private. The internet is rife with parenting blogs and TikToks dealing with parenting tips, funny anecdotes, gushing praise and feel-good parenting moments that make it seem like being a parent is the best thing a person could ever be.

The truth is being a parent doesn’t make you a special person. Some parents are great, some are terrible, and plenty of them get fed up and tired sometimes. No doubt everyone you know who is a parent has made an awful joke about their kid at some point. Parents are humans and they say and think and do terrible things sometimes. Just look!

10. About 1 in 5 Parents Regret Having Kids

As a child you want to believe your parents love you no matter what. They’re happy you came into their lives, you’re the center of their universe and you’re everything they hoped and dreamed for. And maybe when you get older you temper that a bit and just realize your parents probably enjoy your company if nothing else. At least they don’t regret you, right? Well, not so fast.

A German study from 2016 showed that a full 20% of parents regretted having children. The results were based on a survey of over 2000 respondents. Specifically, they were asked if they were given the chance to go back and do it again, would they prefer to live their lives without kids? Mothers ranked slightly lower at 19% while fathers came in at 20%

Deeper research showed that these numbers are similar in the US and higher in Poland. Parents who regret kids often had terrible childhoods themselves, suffer from poorer psychological health than others, and it’s related to marital status and financial situations as well. 

While not every parent regrets having kids, 52% said they felt that parenthood had limited their lives. Forty-four percent of mothers said they would have done better in their careers if not for kids. 

It’s not all doom and gloom as 77% said they found parenthood gratifying and 95% said they loved their children. But, to be fair, that means a solid 27% don’t even like being parents and 5%, or over 100 parents, don’t even love their kids.

9. Some Parents Mailed Their Children to Relatives Through the USPS

In the modern world parents are worried about everything. Some of it is justified and some of it is paranoia but we’re constantly being inundated with fears and dangers relating to abuses, violence, the environment, mental and physical health and so much more. Sometimes people will wish for a sort of fairy tale bygone era when “things were better” even if there’s little evidence things ever were better in reality. 

If you want some evidence of how people felt things were safe and good when they were not, just look at the baffling tales of people mailing children across America.

In the early 1900s, the United States Postal Service introduced a parcel delivery service. You could send gifts to people, not just letters! A new age was born. This also inspired some people to realize that a baby fell into the rules for parcel size so they thought “why not mail the baby to relatives instead of paying to travel?” And they did it.

In one case a family slapped 15 cents’ worth of stamps on a baby, insured him for $50, and gave him to the mailman to take him a mile up the road to grandma’s house. In another case, 15 cents’ worth of stamps sent a 6-year-old 720 miles from Florida to Virginia.

8. A Fifth of Parents Think Their Babies are Ugly

There’s a famous episode of Seinfeld in which a mutual friend of Jerry and the gang has a baby that’s apparently just hideous looking. Only Jerry and his friends recognize this while the parents and others keep claiming that the baby is gorgeous. And it brings up a true life observation many people have made – some babies are just ugly.

Not everyone is going to find everyone else appealing to look at, but we tend to fake it with babies because of course we do. They’re babies. But are the parents being honest when they say their child is beautiful? No. No, they’re not.

About 20% of parents actually think they have an ugly baby. This is backed up by separate research that concluded people don’t actually find newborns all that cute, especially compared to older babies. The younger the baby is, the more likely someone is to think they’re ugly. 

Does it matter if you think you have an ugly child? It might if you’re the ugly baby in question. Research from a Canadian doctor into shopping cart safety noted once that parents tend to neglect ugly kids more than attractive ones. Ugly children were left unattended more often in grocery stores and were less likely to be buckled into a shopping cart for safety.

7. One-Third of Parents Thinks Family Time is Boring

Did your family ever have a night for family fun? The forced “family time” thing where everyone has to do something? A lot of kids seem to hate it but if your parents made you do it, take comfort knowing that there’s a good chance they hated it, too.

About one-third of parents in a UK study admit that they find family time boring. One fifth say they don’t even know how to play with their kids. The same data shows that one in 10 kids know their parents hate it, too. 

Parents in the study blamed their jobs, housework and video games for why they can’t engage with their kids. If you think playing video games with kids is the key, like one in three parents thought, you should know that 9 in 10 kids said they didn’t like playing games with their parents and would rather do it alone. 

6. Multiple Studies Show Parents Have a Favorite Kid

If you have a sibling, chances are you asked your parents which one of you they liked best at one point. And your parents probably used the tried-and-true line of loving you equally. If you suspected that was a lie to spare someone’s feelings, you are probably correct. Multiple studies have confirmed that parents absolutely have a favorite kid. 

One study revealed that 74% of mothers and 70% of fathers reported having a favorite child. 

Kids aren’t stupid and they can see parents treating them differently. But there’s research to suggest that while they’re right about parents having a favorite, they’re often wrong about who it is. Adult children are wrong 60% of the time when asked about who their aging parent would prefer as a caregiver, for instance. 

5. Parents Pay Boys More Allowance Than Girls

Out in the working world, the pay gap has been a known issue for years now. There have been studies for years that show women are paid less than men for doing the same work, sometimes over 15% less overall. Less well known is that this seems to start at home.

When parents pay their children an allowance, boys get paid more than girls. In one study it was found boys got paid twice as much allowance as girls for doing weekly chores. The study covered 10,000 families, so it was not a small sampling. 

Boys were given chores considered more physically demanding, like mowing a lawn. Girls more often had to do things like cleaning dishes and bathrooms. Weirdly enough, boys were also paid for “jobs” that girls were not – things like brushing their teeth and bathing. 

Another survey showed parents are more likely to pay boys at all than girls. 67% of boys receive an allowance while only 59% of girls do.

4. 9 out of 10 Gen X Parents Think Their Kids Will Get Scholarships

It’s good to believe in your child but sometimes that has financial consequences. Research shows that many Gen X parents are still carrying their own student debt as their teenage kids prepare to go to college. Because they have their own debts, they are less able to afford to help pay tuition. This has resulted in a whopping 9 out of 10 Gen X parents believing their kids will qualify for scholarships or grants, which is not realistic. 

Just under 60% of students can rely on scholarships while around 50% need loans, throwing off those Gen X plans. 

3. Parents, For Years, Have Had No Idea What Kids Do Online

Once upon a time, when the internet had settled in as a ubiquitous part of everyday life, there used to be regular campaigns advising parents to be aware of what their kids did online. At some point this slipped by the wayside. Maybe it was because the next generation of kids grew up with the internet and their parents had all had it in high school and felt too comfortable understanding the ins and outs. Whatever it was, parents now are largely blind to what their kids do online. It’s been that way for years.

Back in 2010, only 5% of parents thought their kids were playing games online. The actual number was 77%.

One study in 2016 showed that only 13% of teens thought their parents had any idea what they did online. 60% of teens had profiles on apps that their parents knew nothing about compared to just 28% of parents who thought their kids might. 

Showing a disconnect,  67% of parents said they had a rule that their kids had to report anything they saw online that made them uncomfortable but just 32% of kids thought they had that rule. This mirrors similar results from Ireland where 64% of parents didn’t know if their kids had ever experienced something upsetting online. 

As recently as 2022, the difference between what parents think and what their kids do is prevalent. 89% of parents say they keep a close eye on what their kids do but just 32% of kids say their parents are monitoring them. 

2. Most Parents Have No Idea How Well Their Kids Are Doing in School But Think they Do

Did your parents have blinders on when it came to how smart and successful you were in school? It’s not uncommon to see this kind of behavior in which a parent has an over-inflated image of their child and thinks they’re better than they are. Most parents want to believe their kids are smart and capable, after all. 

According to one study, a full 90% of parents were convinced their children were performing well academically. However, actually results from school showed only 29% of 8th graders were proficient in reading at or above their grade level. That gap between belief and reality is enormous. 

Because this data came from 2022 a lot of it has been blamed on the pandemic and time lost in the classroom, but it can’t account for all of it. Children’s report cards aren’t accurately informing parents about their children’s performance as we saw earlier with no-zero policies. If a teacher can’t fail a student who isn’t performing well, a parent may never realize how far behind their child really is. 

1. Many Parents Regret Their Kid’s Name

According to one study in the UK, about one-third of adults hate their first name. But you have to assume that, like it or not, your parents had a reason behind the name and they really liked it. Except that maybe that’s not true either. Varying surveys have shown that between one in 7 and one in 5 parents actually regret the names they gave their kids. 

The reasons a parent disliked the name varied, but it was often because of external reasons. If the name became too popular with other parents or if a celebrity named their baby the same thing, those were reasons a parent might regret their choice. 25% of parents blamed the name being used by others as a reason they didn’t like it anymore.

Other reasons for name regret included people having issues spelling or pronouncing it. That’s something to consider if you come up with novel spelling for a name and have to endure everyone stumbling over trying to say it out loud.

One parent in a survey laid their regrets right at the feet of terrorism thanks to a terrorist group taking the name and sullying it. We have to assume it was little Isis that bore the brunt of that unfortunate coincidence.