Gypsy Rose Blanchard Shares What Pushed Her To The Breaking Point With Her Mother

Gypsy Rose Blanchard served seven years in prison for her involvement in the 2015 murder of her mother, Dee Dee Blanchard.

The fatal stabbing was carried out on June 9, 2015, by her then-boyfriend, Nicholas Godejohn. Godejohn was sentenced to life in prison without parole, plus an additional 25 years for armed criminal action. Gypsy, meanwhile, received a 10-year sentence after pleading guilty to second-degree murder.

Throughout her childhood, Gypsy is believed to be a victim of Munchausen syndrome by proxy, a form of abuse in which a caregiver fabricates or induces illnesses in their child to gain attention or sympathy. This abuse shaped much of her life and ultimately played a significant role in the events leading to her mother’s death.

Now, Gypsy Rose Blanchard is opening up about the “final straw” that led to her mother’s murder in her new memoir, "My Time to Stand," which was released on December 10.

Gypsy Rose Blanchard Reflects On Her Childhood

According to the now 33-year-old, the “final straw” occurred a month before the murder when her mother “tried to cut” her throat after her voice unexpectedly became “high-pitched.” She recounted pleading with her mother, insisting there was nothing wrong with her voice, but Dee Dee still took her to a pulmonologist who recommended “exploratory surgery of her larynx.”

By this time, Gypsy had already attempted to run away twice and had even shot her mother with a “BB gun” after Dee Dee allegedly “chained” her to the bed, claiming Gypsy was becoming “harder to control” as she got older. Gypsy described the proposed voice box surgery as “completely unnecessary” and said it made her “truly” fear the “scope of [her mom’s] malice.”

Gypsy Claims Her Mom 'Muzzled' Her Mouth

Before the planned surgery, Gypsy said her mother would “muzzle” her mouth at night with a CPAP machine “for my fake sleep apnea” and use Orajel to “numb” her mouth, causing her to “drool and slur.” She also held Dee Dee responsible for her teeth falling out, which she attributed to “side effects of superfluous medications.”

“By speaking for me and scripting my every interaction, she deprived me of finding my own voice. Now, the way I saw it, my literal voice, squeaky as it might be, could be taken from me. Her final play,” the ex-con wrote.

Gypsy Rose Blanchard Describes Unsettling Doctor's Visits

Dee Dee successfully persuaded numerous doctors that her daughter suffered from a range of medical conditions, including asthma, cancer, Down syndrome, epilepsy, and more.

"I always had this stuffed animal or a Barbie doll, [and Dee Dee would] just tell me [to] 'play with your Barbie doll and when the doctor comes to examine me, just stay in the wheelchair; be calm; play with your doll, and don't move your legs'," she recalled in an interview while she was still in prison for the 2017 documentary "Mommy Dead and Dearest."

"I was just as much in the dark as much as everyone else," she added. "[The] only thing I knew is that I could walk. As for everything else, the leukemia the epilepsy, I was taking medication that [Dee Dee] said was cancer medicine."

Dee Dee Shaved Gypsy Rose's Head

Gypsy shared that her mother even went so far as to shave her head, telling her, "It's going to fall out anyway, so let's just keep it nice and neat."

As for how Dee Dee managed to deceive so many doctors, it is believed that the medications she administered to Gypsy "induced many of the symptoms of diseases [that] doctors thought they were treating."

Over a span of nine years, Dee Dee brought Gypsy to the hospital more than 100 times, citing various fabricated medical conditions.

Gypsy Rose Goes To Prison For Her Involvement In Her Mom's Murder

In 2016, Gypsy pleaded guilty to second-degree murder for her role in the death of her mother, Dee Dee. She was sentenced to 10 years in prison and released on parole on December 28, 2023, after serving 85% of her sentence.

Her then-boyfriend, Godejohn, who carried out the fatal stabbing in 2015 at Gypsy’s urging, was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

During her trial, Gypsy testified that the reason she conspired to kill her mother was the years of abuse she endured, which left her feeling as though murder was her only escape. She recounted how Dee Dee forced her to use a wheelchair and undergo countless unnecessary medical tests and procedures.

Dee Dee also exploited her daughter by portraying her as a terminally ill and disabled child to gain sympathy and collect charitable donations from organizations like Make-A-Wish and The Walt Disney Company, all while exerting complete control over Gypsy's life.