Gypsy Rose Blanchard was released on early parole on December 28, 2023, after serving 8 years for the murder of her mother, Dee Dee Blanchard. This has reignited interest in the case as well as bringing to light the psychological disorder of Munchausen syndrome by proxy.
According to the National Institutes of Health, Munchausen syndrome by proxy describes “children whose mothers produce histories of illness to their children and who support such histories by fabricated physical signs and symptoms, or even by alter laboratory tests.”
The majority of cases regarding this syndrome are detected in mothers making it a form of child abuse that puts the child through many extremely unnecessary medical procedures. Because of its rarity, Munchausen syndrome by proxy often goes undiagnosed or not identified by health professionals. Detection is made especially difficult due to the perception of these mothers being devoted to their children.
Experts believe Gypsy Rose was a victim of this syndrome. Dee Dee had a background as a nurse with a vast understanding of hospital protocols, medical terminology, and routines. This helped her make the diagnoses for her daughter more believable.
Originally from Louisiana, Gypsy Rose and Dee Dee moved to Springfield, Missouri after Hurricane Katrina destroyed their apartment in 2005. Conveniently, Dee Dee reportedly claimed all of her daughter’s old medical records were also ruined. This would go unquestioned by Gypsy’s doctors and physicians for years.
Dee Dee and Gypsy Rose would appear on local TV news and gain sympathy from many in their community. Raised solely by her mother, Gypsy was diagnosed with an abundance of medical complications such as leukemia, and had to stay in a wheelchair for most of her life.
Gypsy Rose underwent many medical procedures and took high doses of medication. She had to shave her head to maintain the appearance of having leukemia as well as have a feeding tube to treat her muscular dystrophy which required her to have a wheelchair.
Gypsy’s curiosity about life beyond her household grew as her mother became more emotionally and physically abusive. Without her mother’s knowledge, Gypsy Rose and Nicholas Godejohn were introduced to one another on a Christian dating site back in 2013. He was the first person she told about her dark secret—that her mother forced her to use a wheelchair despite being able to walk.
They would both go on to murder Dee Dee on June 14, 2015, upon Gypsy imposing the desperate question “Would you kill my mother for me?”
Godejohn is currently serving life in prison without the possibility of parole for the crime of second-degree murder. Gypsy pleaded guilty and received a 10-year sentence. Now 32 years old, she was recently released from prison which brought attention to her case. Many people showed support by bringing up the notion of self-defense as the motive for the crime, though Gypsy Rose herself says she should have found another way out of the situation.
Gypsy Rose has garnered a massive following on social media with 9.8 million followers on TikTok. With her newly found freedom, she hopes to raise awareness for victims of Munchausen syndrome by proxy by becoming an advocate and making her story known. “I share my story to be a cautionary tale so that the next person that might be in a situation like mine where they are in an abusive relationship or they are feeling trapped, they don’t take the route that I did.”
Many documentaries and series have uncovered the abuse Gypsy Rose experienced as a result of her mother’s medical lies and psychological disorder. She stated that the purpose of all these documentaries and her forming a big platform is to be “a voice for the voiceless” and create change.
Allie O’Brien, a Hampton Bays High School Senior, became aware of Munchausen syndrome by proxy for the first time upon learning about the Dee Dee Blanchard murder case.
When it comes to addressing whether Gypsy’s action of killing her mother was justifiable, Hampton Bays High School Senior Allison Sequiera stated, “Her mom medically abused her and used her and I feel like what she did was a way for her to escape her mom. But I don’t think murder is a way to do it but I understand why she needed to do it.”
With her newly attained platform, Gypsy is interested in getting into advocacy work. In an interview with News12 Long Island, she commented, “I just hope that I can do good sharing my story and resonate with people and connect with people and if there’s some positive that comes out of it then that’s exactly why I’m doing this.”
Seeing that there have been no effective treatments or diagnostic criteria for the conditions regarding this syndrome, Gypsy Rose hopes to let victims know that there are other ways out instead of settling on murder.
