After eight years in the Chillicothe Correctional Center in Chillicothe, Missouri, Gypsy Rose Blanchard was approved for parole, and was released in December 2023 according to CNN. On July 16, 2016, Gypsy pled guilty to the second-degree murder of her mother, Clauddine “Dee Dee” Blanchard. Gypsy’s boyfriend at the time, Nicholas Godejon, was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison.
Gypsy was a victim of Munchausen by Proxy (MSP) for twenty-four years of her life. This rare condition is caused when a parent/caretaker forces their child to be ill. They will make up conditions that they don’t have and give them unnecessary medicines that will make them sick. Dee Dee did things such as make Gypsy use a wheelchair and use a feeding tube. She even diagnosed Gypsy with Leukemia and Muscle Dystrophy. At one point, Gypsy’s teeth fell out from all the medicine she was taking. Dee Dee used all these illnesses as a way to shield Gypsy from the world. She never had friends, never attended school, or even went out by herself. Dee Dee lied to doctors, friends, and family about Gypsy’s illnesses.
MSP is very rare because it is not often that a parent can fool a doctor or medical professional into thinking someone has cancer. Dee Dee got away with it because of Hurricane Katrina, she said that Gypsy’s medical records were lost in the storm. This was a likely story because this happened to many according to HealthIT. By the time doctors would get suspicious about Dee Dee, she and Gypsy would leave and go somewhere else or move completely.
One night in June of 2015, Gypsy, and her boyfriend at the time, Nicholas Godejon killed Dee Dee. “It was panic, desperation,” Gypsy told People Magazine. “Because I was facing yet another surgery pretty soon, and I really did not want to have the surgery.” Gypsy packed her things and stayed in the other room while Nick killed her mother. The two fled to Wisconsin but were eventually caught and arrested.
Gypsy has endured several years in prison, countless interviews, a TV series about her story, and a show with her interviews in prison. Since her release, she has married, spread awareness for her condition, and many other things beneficial for her community.
