Munchhausen syndrome by proxy: mental illness and a form of child abuse. The caretaker of a child, most often a mother, either makes up fake symptoms or causes real symptoms to make it look like the child is sick.
Gypsy Rose Blanchard grew up with her mother, Dee Dee Blanchard. Since her birth, she made claims leading to a dire diagnosis and medical interventions. However, Gypsy wasn’t sick.
Her mother suffered from Munchhausen syndrome by proxy.
Gypsey was born in 1991, this is when Dee Dee first claimed that she had sleep apnea. This led to medications, a feeding tube, multiple surgeries, and the removal of her rotting teeth.
Dee Dee presented herself as a sweet and devoted mother to gypsy, no one expected anything. Most of the time, the medical tests that were done on her came back saying nothing was wrong. Dee Dee would stop seeing any doctor who questioned her. She had a little bit of nursing experience so she was able to accurately speak to her symptoms and would often give her medications to mimic sicknesses without her knowing. She never let gypsy speak for herself.
When friends and family became suspicious of Gypsy’s condition, she and Gypsy moved from Louisiana to Missouri in 2005.
Dee Dee would receive benefits as well as paid-for trips to magical destinations such as Disney. She basked in the praise she got for being Gypsy’s caretaker. She would also lie about Gypsy’s age by changing the date on her birth certificate.
When Gypsy was 14, she saw a neurologist in Missouri who came to believe she was a victim of Munchausen syndrome by proxy. However, this doctor never reported her case to authorities. In later interviews, he stated his belief that there wasn’t enough evidence to act.
Gypsy did not have any freedom except for a laptop her mother provided her with. She met a guy at a sci-fi convention and they talked. He told her she needed to get away from her mom so she ran away. When dee dee caught her she smashed her laptop and restrained her to the bed.
Later, when she got a new laptop, she met a man named Nicholas Godejohnon on a Christian dating site and they devised a plan to kill Dee Dee.
As Gypsy’s medical records documented the abuse she’d been subjected to, her lawyer was able to arrange a plea deal for the charges she faced in Dee Dee’s death. in 2016, Gypsy pled guilty to second-degree murder. She was sentenced to 10 years in prison, though she is scheduled to be released this December. Godejohn was found guilty of first-degree murder in 2018 and was sentenced to life in prison.
Gypsy has stated it was only after Dee Dee’s death that she realized the extent of her mother’s wrongdoings. While Gypsy had known she could walk and eat regular food, she had believed she had leukemia.
Today, Gypsy is healthy. She’s also said she enjoys more freedom in prison than in the life she shared with Dee Dee. However, when asked by Dr. Phil if she was glad her mother was dead, she stated, “I’m glad that I’m out of that situation, but I’m not happy she’s dead.”