What is the Gypsy Rose case?
The Gypsy Rose case has been trending lately, but what is the case about? Gypsy Rose Blanchard was born on July 27, 1991 to Rob Blanchard and Clauddine “Dee Dee” Blanchard. The couple split before Gypsy was born in Louisiana in 1991. She was held prisoner in her own home by her mother who claimed Gypsy suffered from multiple serious ailments, which prevented her from attending school and having friends. It was believed that her mother suffered from a mental illness called Munchausen syndrome by proxy (MSP). In 2015, Gypsy and her online boyfriend of the time arranged for the murder of Dee Dee. After serving eight years in jail, she was released from Chillicothe Correctional Center on December 28, 2023.
What is Münchausen syndrome by proxy?
MedlinePlus defines this rare mental condition, which is also known as factitious disorder imposed on another, as a form of child abuse in which a child’s parent or caregiver makes up fake symptoms or inflicts real ones onto a child to make it seem as if they are ill. It is believed that Dee Dee wanted to be a caregiver so she faked illnesses onto her daughter. This is done to deceive people in order to gain sympathy from doctors, family, and the community. Although it is not well recognized what causes MSP, most people who have the disorder experienced childhood trauma or abuse. It is an incredibly rare disorder with only 128 cases being reported in the United Kingdom during a two year time span in a study conducted by McClure et Al. In this study, it was found that a majority of people with MSP were mothers who also worked in healthcare. Dee Dee, who had some education in nursing and was a nurse’s aid for a few years, was able to trick doctors into prescribing Gypsy Rose medicines for her nonexistent diseases. Dee Dee even shaved her daughter’s hair to convince others that she was sick. In addition to having her hair shaved, Gypsy was forced to use a wheelchair, feeding tube, and undergo various unnecessary treatments, such as the removal of her salivary glands.
What diseases was Gypsy believed to have?
Dee Dee faked numerous disorders on her daughter from a young age. When Gypsy was a baby, her mother claimed that she suffered from sleep apnea, a disorder where a person’s stops and restarts breathing in their sleep, and brain brain damage from being born prematurely and from the seizures which, according to her mother, left Gypsy with the mental capacity of a seven year old. However, the abuse started to escalate when Gypsy was eight. Her mother told everyone that her daughter had leukemia, muscular dystrophy, asthma, epilepsy, and other illnesses that she claimed were caused by a chromosomal defect. These ailments led to Gypsy receiving unnecessary medical treatments and medicines such as having eye surgery to correct weakened muscles around her eyes along with various gastrointestinal surgeries. Her mother gave Gypsy medications that would help mimic other conditions. Gypsy was given anti-seizure medicines, which caused dental and oral problems. Dee Dee then numbed Gypsy’s gums, causing her to drool. Dee Dee then had surgeons remove both of her daughter’s salivary glands, which accelerated Gypsy’s tooth decay, causing them to fall out.
How did doctors not realize the abuse Gypsy went through?
One symptom of MSP is the parent or caregiver already having a diagnosis for a set of symptoms before coming to the doctors. With this, it seems unrealistic that no doctor out of the 150 that Dee Dee sent her daughter to seemed to question Dee Dee’s actions. However, many did, but when they did, Dee Dee would tell them they were wrong and never return. Eventually, Dee Dee’s family started to question if Gypsy was really ill after noticing that she didn’t seem to need a wheelchair. After the family confronted Dee Dee, she and Gypsy moved away from them. Dee Dee was a master at deception and would convince doctors that her daughter was already tested positive for various conditions, even though she didn’t. After hurricane Katrina in 2005, Dee Dee claimed that Gypsy’s medical records and birth certificate were damaged, making it easier for her to convince doctors her daughter was sick. In 2008, Gypsy and her mother had a new home built for them in Missouri by Habitat for Humanity, and their story gained public attention. When Gypsy was 14, a neurologist named Dr. Bernardo Flasterstein, was the first to outwardly question if Gypsy was a victim of MSP. He sent a letter to Gypsy’s primary care physician stating, “I believe that the mother suffers from Munchausen by proxy,” However, due to the lack of evidence, he was unable to report his suspicions to the authorities. In 2009, an anonymous report from another doctor was made to Child Protection Services (CPS), but when the social workers came, Dee Dee convinced them that nothing was wrong.
Gypsy’s older years:
When Gypsy grew older she became skeptical of her illnesses. She started to realize that she wasn’t as sick as her mother claimed she was, however, the only lie she believed is that she had laukima. In order to prevent her daughter from running away, Dee Dee changed Gypsy’s birth certificate to make it seem as if she was younger. In 2011, when she was 19, she met a guy at a science fiction convention but was tracked down by her mother. Her mother’s physical abuse became even worse as she chained her to the bed, deny her food periodically, and smashed her computer.
Nicholas Godejohn and Dee Dee’s murder:
A year later, Gypsy was able to regain access to the internet, where she joined an unspecified Christian dating site and met a man named Nicholas Godejohn. The two dated for almost three years before meeting in person for the first time in March of 2015. On June 9, 2015, Godejohn checked into a motel in Missouri and Gypsy had a doctor’s appointment. It seemed like a normal day, however, the couple planned on killing Dee Dee that afternoon. Later that afternoon, Godejohn entered the house while Gypsy hid in the bathroom and stabbed Dee Dee seventeen times. They then hid at the motel for a few days before taking a bus to Godejohn’s house in Wisconsin. On June 14, 2015, Dee Dee was found dead in her home after Gypsy posted “that b— is dead” on her mother’s facebook account. On June 15, 2015, Godejohn confirmed that he killed Dee Dee after the post was tracked to his house. The two were arrested and charged.
The trial and prison:
In July 2016, Gypsy made a deal with the prosecutor Dan Patterson where she pleaded guilty to second degree murder to avoid trial and was sentenced to ten years in prison, the minimum sentence for second degree murder. Gypsy claimed that she felt more free in prison then she did in her past life with her mother. Two years later in November 2018, Godejohn was found guilty of first degree murder and armed criminal action linked to Dee Dee’s death and was sentenced to life in prison without parole. Gypsy testified at his trial that the idea to murder Dee Dee was hers since the abuse started to get worse. She was afraid of blood so she claimed to have made Godejohn do the murder while she hid. She also didn’t try to report her mother to the authorities since she was afraid that no one would believe her. In 2020, Gypsy met her now husband and married him in prison in 2022. On December 28, 2023, Gypsy was released early from prison. She stated in an interview with People magazine that she was “ready for freedom”. On December 29, 2023 she posted her selfie of freedom, which has over 6.4 million likes on instagram.
