By Owen Pierotti, ’27

Staff Writer

Gypsy Rose Blanchard, whose story capitivated us after a 2017 HBO documentary called Mommy Dead and Dearest, is out of prison and now a survivor of a rare mental illness called Munchausen syndrome by proxy. But has she gotten the help she needs to ensure she’s no longer a danger to society?

According to Medline Plus, Munchausen by proxy is a form of child abuse where a parent fakes an illness or causes symptoms to make a child appear sick. Gypsy suffered years of unnecessary medical treatments for sleep apnea, leukemia and more due to her mother, Claudine “Dee Dee” Blanchard. Gypsy was confined to a wheelchair and isolated from others and her mother even lied about her age to make her seem younger and more fragile. Eventually, Gypsy started going behind her mother’s back to talk to people outside of her sheltered life. She learned she didn’t need the wheelchair and began to disobey Deedee. Still, she was confused by her mother’s behavior and scared to tell anyone she wasn’t sick. 

Feeling stuck, Gypsy met a quirky and weird boy on an online dating site. Nicholas Giddejohn called Gypsy his “princess” and promised to do anything for her. That ultimately included killing Gypsy’s mother, who was stabbed to death in June 2015. Gypsy and Nicholas were soon arrested and put on trial. Nicholas was sentenced to life in prison while Gypsy was sentenced to ten years. Last December, Gypsy was released after serving 8.5 years.

Since leaving prison, Gypsy has moved to Louisiana with Ryan Anderson, who she married while behind bars. She’s gone viral on social media and has been featured on interview after interview. Gypsy is now an activist for Munchausen by proxy, and is speaking out about her experience. The media has been surprisingly forgiving. I think Gypsy needs to focus on her mental health before she can help others. If she doesn’t get help, the abuse inflicted by Dee Dee could still linger. What if Gypsy abuses her own child like Dee Dee did? 

This is surely not the end of Gypsy’s story. I hope it can be the advent of a new happy and healthy life if she focuses less on the spotlight and more on healing herself.