Here's what happened to Eleven’s mom in Stranger Things

Every hero has a backstory, and in Stranger Things, Eleven’s is one of the most compelling and heartbreaking stories in the show. Born with special psychokinetic abilities, she was forced to be raised in a secret laboratory and subjected to brutal experiments that tested the limits of her mind and body.

But where were her parents while all of this was happening? Couldn't they protect her, or even intervene? The heartbreaking truth is that her mother, Terry Ives, was caught in a nightmare of her own. Below, we shared a breakdown of what exactly happened to Terry in the hit sci-fi series.

What's the story behind Eleven's mom in Stranger Things?

When Terry was in college in the late 1960s, she became a test subject for a secret government program known as Project MKUltra. This program was under the administration of Dr. Martin Brenner at Hawkins National Laboratory. During the program, Terry participated in multiple experiments. Some of them exposed her to mind-altering psychedelic drugs and extreme sensory deprivation. Unbeknownst to her, she was also pregnant with Jane (who later becomes Eleven) at the time.

After finally going into labor, she was taken to the hospital, where she gave birth via cesarean section. She briefly got to see her baby. However, she saw Dr. Brenner take the baby away, and then she lost consciousness. When Terry woke up, she was told she had miscarried, which was a lie meant to prevent her from searching for her daughter.

Despite the lie, Terry knew she had seen Eleven/Jane being taken, so she tried to sue Dr. Brenner and Hawkins Lab. However, her case was dismissed because there was no evidence to prove her claim. Years passed by, and Terry’s grief and desperation only grew stronger.

Determined to reclaim her daughter, she took matters into her own hands and attempted to enter Hawkins Lab by force. Armed with a gun, she confronted a guard and managed to injure him before fleeing down the corridors in search of Eleven/Jane. She finally came across a room with a rainbow painted on the outside, and inside, she saw her daughter playing with another child. As she reached for her, the police rushed in and took her to Dr. Brenner.

Terry was then brought into a room where she was strapped to a table and subjected to electroconvulsive therapy as punishment for trying to take her daughter back. The brutal procedure caused severe brain damage, leaving Terry in a catatonic state. Her mind became trapped in looping fragments of traumatic memories, and her ability to speak was reduced to only a few repeated words and phrases connected to those moments. Her older sister Becky eventually became her full-time caregiver, unaware of the full extent of Hawkins Lab’s involvement in her condition.

In the second season of Stranger Things, Eleven/Jane finally meets Terry and learns all about her condition before setting out to find her sister, Kali/Eight. But sadly, she and her mom were never able to truly connect or have the life together that was stolen from them. This is what happened to Terry Ives, and her story.

Stranger Things is streaming on Netflix.