Kriti Mehrotra
It was in 2015 when the concept of Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy first gained extensive attention across the globe, and it was owing to the homicide of Clauddine “Dee Dee” Blanchard. After all, as explored in ‘The Prison Confessions of Gypsy Rose Blanchard’ plus ‘Gypsy Rose: Life After Lock Up,’ she’d abused her daughter to such an extent the girl saw no way out except orchestrating her murder. Gypsy and her then-boyfriend Nicholas “Nick” Godejohn thus went through with it, resulting in them becoming not just criminals but also global sensations considering the whole ordeal.
Gypsy Rose Blanchard Did Not Have an Easy Childhood
Although born on July 27, 1991, to Clauddine and Rod Blanchard as their only child in a relatively stable environment, Gypsy’s upbringing was unfortunately not at all comfortable, happy, or safe. The truth is her parents had separated before she even came into this world since her father had realized they’d married for the wrong reasons, but he was still very much willingly involved in her life. It didn’t matter to him that he was merely 18 himself or his 24-year-old ex (she’d initially lied by telling him 21) was raising her with family help in Chackbay, Louisiana; he wanted to be her dad.
However, in Rod’s efforts to provide for Gypsy, he was rarely in her company — he worked hard because he wanted her to be cared for as well as have some backing no matter where she went in life. Little did he know this would essentially give Claudine (aka Dee Dee) free reign to abuse their little girl from the time she was just three months old via Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy — fake illnesses. It started with sleep apnea despite no medical tests indicating the same, only to gradually evolve into a chromosomal disorder, muscular dystrophy, and eventually also leukemia a few years later.
Rod and his then-wife Kristy actually believed in Dee Dee’s every assertion because they weren’t there to witness Gypsy’s day to day and could see the physical evidence in her wheelchair use. That’s part of why they didn’t argue when the child was pulled out of school either — they were told her illnesses were far too severe, plus her biological mother had promised to homeschool her. It turns out her education was minimal; she taught herself the basics by watching Disney movies, reading the ‘Harry Potter’ series, and surfing the internet on her perpetually monitored cell phone.
Then comes the claim Gypsy was allegedly also molested by her maternal grandfather at the tender age of 9 — which he has since vehemently denied — but never said anything back then out of fear. This was admittedly the same fear that stopped her from getting out of her wheelchair and walking around when she perfectly could, meaning she was terrified of what her mother would do. She hence experienced countless gloomy hospitals, underwent several needless procedures, as well as moved around a lot once family members started asking key questions regarding all her ailments.
From Chackbay to New Orleans and then from the Ozarks to Missouri, Gypsy lived everywhere with her mother, unaware she was being told utter lies about not just her health but also her age. It has been speculated Dee Dee wanted her daughter to remain a child and thus dependent on her for as long as possible, which is why she even went as far as to hide her age on several occasions. In fact, the youngster was told she was turning 14 on her 18th birthday; by this point, they were residing in Missouri, far away from anyone who could reveal the truth or provide her with some support.
Therefore, as Dee Dee allegedly continued to abuse Gypsy and she got unnecessarily medicated because the doctors also failed to notice the Munchausen by Proxy, she found solace in pain pills. Yet apart from Vicodin, this then-teen was starved for affection as well as physical touch too, which is what drove her to online dating — she wanted to get away from her mother’s coldness and vitriol. But alas, she could’ve never thought it would lead her to suspect the truth, run away for a man, be found, be physically abused, find someone else, and finally decide it was time for things to be over for good.
Gypsy Rose Blanchard is in a Happy Relationship Today
While Gypsy was the one to initially suggest killing Dee Dee to her Wiscon sin-based online boyfriend Nicholas “Nick” Godejohn in early 2015, he took it to the extremes, according to court records. Yes, she’d sent him a short video of their house as they planned things out together and stole the murder weapon from a Walmart, yet he alone willingly, heinously slashed the mother to death. As a result, considering her special circumstances, the 24-year-old was allowed to plead guilty to reduced second-degree murder, for which she was sentenced to 10 years with a possibility of parole after 8.
If we’re being honest, many believe Gypsy’s conviction was unfair as she practically traded one prison for another, yet she herself thinks it was necessary since she could’ve easily crumbled in the real world without some time to adjust, hear the whole truth, process, plus understand freedom. Hence, she served her time as best as she could with the 2021 parole hearing constantly running at the back of her mind, making her a model inmate of sorts – all she did following a few acclimating months was attend therapy, study to earn her GED, communicate with fans as well as family, and take things easy.
So, with Gypsy’s candid admission of remorse too — she wishes she could turn back time to change everything but knows she’ll just have to live with her actions forever — she was awarded parole. She was actually released from the Chillicothe Correctional Center in Missouri on December 28, 2023, at 3:30 a.m. upon serving her whole eight years, and her husband was there to pick her up. This now 32-year-old had tied the knot with 6th-grade teacher Ryan Scott Anderson while still incarcerated in 2022; he’s a pen-pal turned lover, and they were glad to be together despite their own difficulties over the years.
However, Gypsy and Ryan separated in March 2024, only for her to rekindle her romance with ex-fiancé Ken Urker as well as officially file for divorce around a month later in April 2024. She has since vehemently maintained, “Ken and I reconnected as friends. It wasn’t like, jump out of a marriage and then let me meet up with you, and boom, we’re in a relationship. We had kept a friendship for the longest time. Then, [following my separation,] I let myself open up to the feelings that I’ve always had for Ken. Those feelings just don’t die.” And now, he’s reportedly planning to move to New Orleans to be with her for good.
So today, Gypsy proudly resides close to her loved ones in Southern Louisiana, from where she hopes to make a difference by actively serving as a Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy advocate. “The choice that I made to commit murder was never the right choice,” she recently told People. “So my mission now is to take what I’ve done and what (my mom) did and make it worth something. So I think it’s really important for me to get out as much awareness about Munchausen by proxy as I can and really try to focus in on mental health.” For this, she’s gradually building herself an audience on social media; plus, she has even published a memoir called ‘Released’ in January 2024 and plans to release another one titled ‘My Time to Stand’ soon. We should also mention she’s really close to her father Rod, stepmother Kristy, and half-sister Mia these days.
Read More: Where is Nick Godejohn Now?
