Background
Gypsy Rose Blanchard was born on July 27, 1991 and was claimed to have sleep apnea by her mother, Dee Dee. Later on, Dee Dee claimed that Gypsy was suffering from leukemia and muscular dystrophy, requiring her to use a wheelchair and feeding tube. In addition to these claims, Dee Dee also theorized her daughter to have seizures, asthma, and hearing and visual impairments. As a result of these claims, Gypsy was given a plethora of medications and was given surgery on her eyes and removal of her salivary glands. Her teeth were even pulled out following their rotting.
Managing the Lies
It was determined that Dee Dee had Munchausen syndrome by proxy which means that she would fabricate her daughter’s illnesses in order to gain attention and praise for taking care of a sick child. How did she get away with this?
Medical tests that were performed on Gypsy often contradicted her mother’s claims regarding her health. If this happened, Dee Dee would stop going to doctors that disagreed with her prognosis. Since Dee Dee had a nursing background, she was able to acquire medicine that would produce certain symptoms in Gypsy allowing her to seem more believable. Gypsy was instructed not to talk during her appointments so that her mother could fabricate her medical history.
As for Gypsy’s father, he was under the impression that Gypsy had a chromosomal disorder that caused her health issues. Other family members claimed that Gypsy did not need a wheelchair or the medicines she was taking, so Dee Dee made the family relocate somewhere else.
Nicholas Godejohn
Eventually, Gypsy grew tired of her mother’s lies and enforcement to take medicine and use a wheelchair. After meeting a guy at a science fiction convention, they tried running away to escape her mother, but Dee Dee was able to track them down. Despite her mother destroying her computer, Gypsy was able to get back online and met Nicholas Godejohn on a Christian dating website. Gypsy explained that her mother was fabricating her illness and asked him to kill Dee Dee so that they could be together. Godejohn murdered Dee Dee at her house in June of 2015.
The couple were inevitably found by police following multiple Facebook posts by Gypsy–one stating “That b**** is dead!” It was later revealed that this was posted so that police would find her body.
Controlling Circumstances
Many people questioned Gypsy’s actions, asking why she didn’t just stand up in public to prove her mother was making everything up. Gypsy claimed that she was afraid no one would believe after going a lifetime under her mother’s control.
An expert in Munchausen’s said that Gypsy was a hostage to her mother and her fear in escaping was understandable.
The Aftermath
Gypsy’s lawyer used her medical records to prove the abuse that she endured throughout her life in order to shorten her sentence. Gypsy pled guilty in 2016 to second degree murder and was sentenced to 10 years in prison. Godejohn was found guilty of first degree murder in 2018 and was sentenced to life in prison.
Although Gypsy is glad that she is out of the situation she was in with her mother, she is not glad that her mother is dead. Gypsy now enjoys her time in prison and is completely healthy.
Sources
The Story of Gypsy Rose Blanchard and Her Mother – Biography
Everything you need to know about Dee Dee and Gypsy Rose Blanchard (msn.com)
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