In just the first week of the new year, an unexpected new star has emerged on social media: Gypsy Rose Blanchard, a 32-year-old Missouri woman who convinced her then-boyfriend to kill her mother in 2015, after years of suffering. As a victim of Munchausen Syndrome by proxy.
Blanchard was recently released from prison after serving an eight-year sentence and wrote a book about her experiences. new documentary series, Prison Confessions of Gypsy Rose Blanchard, which airs on Lifetime in the US, also charts her incredible story. This isn't the first time Blanchard's life has received the TV treatment, as she was the subject of a 2019 Hulu miniseries. verb (starring Patricia Arquette and Joey King) and the HBO documentary Dear dead mother In 2017.
But who is Gypsy Rose Blanchard, what happened to her, and why was she released? Here's everything you need to know about this dark, headline-grabbing story.
Early life of Gypsy Rose Blanchard
Gypsy Rose Blanchard was born in Louisiana in 1991 and was raised solely by her mother, who was known to family and friends as Dee Dee. When Gypsy Rose was three months old, Dee Dee told doctors that her daughter didn't seem to be breathing properly; Consequently, she was diagnosed with sleep apnea and fitted with a breathing machine. However, Dee Dee was convinced something else was wrong.
When Gypsy Rose was seven years old, Dee Dee met her extended family and told them that her daughter had a chromosomal disorder, which meant her range of motion was limited and she would have to use a wheelchair for the rest of her life. After that, the health problems seemed endless: Gypsy Rose needed a feeding tube; She was suffering from leukemia. She was then diagnosed with epilepsy and prescribed medication that caused her teeth to collapse. Dee Dee often clashed with her family over her daughter's care, and one night, the couple suddenly left the family home, leaving no forwarding address.
Patricia Arquette as Dee Dee Blanchard and Joey King as Gypsy Rose Blanchard verb
What is Munchausen syndrome by proxy?
It is now widely accepted that Blanchard was a victim of Munchausen syndrome by proxy – a mental illness and form of child abuse, in which a parent either fabricates fake symptoms or causes real symptoms to make it appear as if their child is ill.
Dee Dee and Gypsy Rose moved from Louisiana to Missouri, where Dee Dee became known as a paragon of virtue, caring for and home-schooling her sick daughter, who she claimed was “developmentally challenged.” The couple appeared on local television news shows, and Dee Dee benefited from strangers and charities: they were given several trips to Walt Disney World and tickets to a Miranda Lambert concert (Lambert later sent Dee Dee a series of checks to help her daughter totaling $6,000).
Hospital visits have grown dramatically. Dee Dee claimed Gypsy Rose was suffering from seizures, asthma, hearing and vision impairment, and had undergone a series of surgeries, including procedures on her eyes and the removal of her salivary glands. Her teeth were extracted. But the truth is that the little girl was able to walk, did not need a feeding tube, and did not have cancer. Her head was bald only because her mother shaved her hair.
Medical tests often showed inconclusive or contradictory results regarding Gypsy Rose's diagnosis, but Dee Dee stopped seeing any doctor who questioned her daughter's illness. Dee Dee had some training as a nurse, so she could accurately describe symptoms, and she would sometimes administer Gypsy Rose's medication to mimic certain conditions.
How did Gypsy Rose meet Nicolas Godejohn?
In 2013, Gypsy Rose created a profile on a site called Christiandatingforfree.com and soon met a man named Nicholas Godejohn, with whom she fell in love after just a few conversations.
Online communication between Godejohn and Blanchard intensified, and in order to hide their relationship from Dee Dee, they shared a private Facebook page where they could post messages to each other. Godejohn continued to look for an in-person meeting, but Blanchard was terrified—what would he think when he saw her in her wheelchair? Finally, she admitted the truth: she didn't need a wheelchair, and her mother forced her to use it.
Godejohn and Blanchard met in person in early 2015 to pitch the film Cinderella At your local Missouri cinema. Gypsy Rose went with her mother and planned the date to look as if she was just meeting Godejohn for the first time; Then they sneak away to have sex in the bathroom. When her daughter reappeared, Dee Dee became angry and forbade her from seeing Godejohn again.
When was Dee Dee's husband killed?
after Cinderella During the show, Dee Dee tightened her control over her daughter, leading to Gypsy Rose and Nick planning what they called “Plan B”: to kill Dee Dee on June 12, 2015.
Blanchard claims Godejohn entered their home late that night, and she gave him blue gloves and a giant serrated knife. He then texted her “Get your ass to the bathroom,” and she claims she obeyed, sat on the floor, and listened to Dee Dee being brutally stabbed next door.
Blanchard and Godejohn returned to his home in Wisconsin, where they were found by police. Gypsy Rose posted twice on the Facebook account she shared with her mother, once writing: “That bitch is dead!” She later explained that she made these posts because she wanted to discover her mother's body.
Dee Dee has benefited from the kindness of strangers and charities (as seen here in verb)
How much prison time did the husband receive?
In 2016, Blanchard accepted a plea deal and was sentenced to 10 years in prison for second-degree murder. Prosecutor Dan Patterson cited the medical and physical abuse she endured as a significant mitigating factor, and the reason she received such an unusually light sentence.
When she first arrived at the Greene County Jail, she was sent to the infirmary to determine what treatment she might need for epilepsy and other ailments, but the doctor gave her a clean bill of health. Godejohn was convicted of first-degree murder in 2018 and sentenced to life in prison.
What's the last of the story?
On December 28, 2023, Blanchard was released after serving 85% of her sentence. Since then, she has become an overnight star on Instagram and TikTok, with 6.5 million and 6.6 million followers respectively.
Although social media accounts were created in the months leading up to her release – for promotion Prison Confessions of Gypsy Rose Blanchard Docuseries – Blanchard gained the most attention with her “first self-portrait of freedom.” The photo shows the 32-year-old posing in front of a mirror with a long ponytail tied over her shoulder, and received thousands of comments.
Blanchard also shared a photo with her new husband, Ryan Scott Anderson, whom she married while behind bars, and captioned it: “New Year's Eve kiss with my husband.” Anderson and Blanchard first began writing to each other in 2020, and married in 2022.
