WASHINGTON — Gypsy Rose Blanchard, who was subject to years of abuse and persuaded her boyfriend at the time to kill her mother, announced Tuesday that she is pregnant.
The 32-year-old announced her pregnancy in a YouTube video.
"Ken and I are expecting our very first child come January of 2025," she said, referencing her current boyfriend Ken Urker. "This was not planned at all, it was completely unexpected, but we're both very excited to take on this new journey of parenthood."
In the nine-minute video, Blanchard addressed concerns from supporters about her readiness to be a parent, saying she was excited for the opportunity to be a mother.
"All the things that I wanted in a mother, I want to give to this baby," she said in the video. "I am a mother now, I am happy, and I just want to be a good mother for my child. I want to be everything my mother wasn't."
Blanchard is currently in the process of getting divorced from Ryan Anderson, who she married in 2022 while still in prison. She previously was engaged to Urker before Blanchard met and married Anderson.
Blanchard was paroled in late December from a Missouri women's prison. Her release came 8 1/2 years after she persuaded her boyfriend at the time, Nicholas Godejohn, to kill her abusive mother, Clauddine “Dee Dee” Blanchard — in a desperate bid to be free of her.
The case sparked national tabloid interest after reports emerged that Clauddine Blanchard had essentially kept her daughter prisoner, forcing her to use a wheelchair and feeding tube.
Clauddine forced Gypsy Rose to pretend for years that she was suffering from leukemia, muscular dystrophy and other serious illnesses.
Her mother had Munchausen syndrome by proxy, a psychological disorder in which parents or caregivers seek sympathy through the exaggerated or made-up illnesses of their children, said her trial attorney, Michael Stanfield.
“People were constantly telling Dee Dee what a wonderful mother she was, and Dee Dee was getting all of this attention,” he said.
Through the ruse, the mother and daughter met country star Miranda Lambert and received charitable donations, a trip to Disney World and even a home near Springfield from Habitat for Humanity.
Stanfield said Gypsy Blanchard's mother was able to dupe doctors by telling them her daughter's medical records had been lost in Hurricane Katrina. If they asked too many questions, she just found a new physician, shaving the girl's head to back up her story. Among the unnecessary procedures Gypsy Blanchard underwent was the removal of her salivary glands. Her mother convinced doctors it was necessary by using topical anesthetic to cause drooling.
Gypsy Rose eventually convinced Godejohn to kill her mother. She pled guilty to second-degree murder and was sentenced to ten years in prison. Godejohn was found guilty of first-degree murder and was sentenced to life without parole.
