In August 1913, she met Guido Deiro (1886–1950), an Italian-born vaudeville headliner and piano-accordion star. Her affair, and possible 1914 marriage to him, as alleged by Diero's son Guido Roberto Deiro in his 2019 book "Mae West and The Count", went "very deep, hittin' on all the emotions". According to the "American Masters" documentary "Mae West: Dirty Blonde", West aborted Deiro's child on the advice of her mother, the procedure nearly killing her and leaving her infertile. The younger Deiro said that his father was devastated when he learned about the abortion and ended the relationship. West later said, "Marriage is a great institution. I'm not ready for an institution."