"It is possible that Gypsy Rose presents with
Speech experts have weighed in on why her voice was so high pitched, with some reasoning that she was doing it almost unconsciously in response to being infantilized by her mother, Dee Dee, who had convinced her that she was years younger than she was.
However, Gypsy wasn't actually unwell — her mother had been lying about her symptoms. Experts believe Dee Dee's behavior stemmed from the mental disorder Munchausen syndrome by proxy; because Dee Dee wanted to be a caretaker, she feigned and induced illness in her daughter.
When Gypsy was a child, her mom Dee Dee told her that she suffered from leukemia and a host of other health issues. Gypsy revealed in a 20/20 interview that the only medical condition she actually has is a lazy eye.
Gypsy never thought she was going to get caught
She was also seen expressing immediate regret at the murder of her mother, and was desperately attempting to cover her up.
Rod and Gypsy have reconnected since she's been in prison.
"It's a hundred times better, honestly," he said. "We email each other. She can call me anytime, and she does. I'm keeping tabs on all of her accomplishments in school.
In addition to being told she had leukemia, muscular dystrophy and epilepsy, Gypsy Rose Blanchard never even knew her real age.
But, according to a 2016 BuzzFeed News investigation on the true story, it's unclear whether Gypsy's teeth were rotting because of poor dental hygiene, malnutrition, or the medications she didn't need—or a combination of all three. Gypsy says a medication called Tegretol for epilepsy caused her "teeth to crumble."
As for her teeth, they did rot and were subsequently removed, likely due to the removal of Gypsy's salivary glands. According to Gypsy, her mother used a numbing agent to numb her gums, causing her to drool, which helped convince doctors to remove the glands.
While under the ever-watchful care of her mother, Gypsy was often bald because Dee Dee would regularly shave her hair so her daughter would look sick. Save for the time-hopped finale episode, Infinity doesn't have hair either. There's even a scene in which Nana is seen shaving her head.
The meeting did not go as planned—Dee Dee hated Godejohn—but Gypsy was still able to sneak away and lose her virginity to Godejohn in a bathroom stall, according to her testimony at his trial. According to ABC News, Dee Dee punished Gypsy after the movie theater incident.
Gypsy Rose pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and is serving a 10 year sentence; after a brief trial in November 2018, Godejohn was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
As for her teeth, they did rot and were subsequently removed, likely due to the removal of Gypsy's salivary glands. According to Gypsy, her mother used a numbing agent to numb her gums, causing her to drool, which helped convince doctors to remove the glands.
While not much is known about him personally, he was reportedly diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder and a low-average IQ. He also had a run-in with the law in 2013 at the age of 23 when he was allegedly caught masturbating while watching pornography at a McDonald's, according to a local report on Patch.com.
Gypsy told him she had 30 different procedures, including multiple eye, leg and throat surgeries. Her salivary glands were also removed.
Dee Dee's ex-husband and Gypsy's father Rod Blanchard told Buzzfeed that he paid Dee Dee $1200 in child support every month even after Gypsy turned 18 because he believed she still needed full-time care. “There was never a question whether or not I was going to stop paying,” Rod said.
In essence, Gypsy was victimized for virtually her entire life by Dee's Dee's Munchausen syndrome by proxy, meaning Gypsy was confined to a wheelchair under the pretense of suffering from legitimate chronic illnesses and subjected to decades of tests and surgeries — when in fact she was nominally healthy and capable of ...
"It is possible that Gypsy Rose presents with puberphonia (high-pitched voice after birth), a class of psychogenic voice disorders," says Jayne Latz, an executive communication coach and president and founder of Corporate Speech Solutions.
Or who knows if her mom gave her the Depo shot or whatever so that she wouldn't have a period.” But Gypsy's answer was even more shocking than Kristy expected. “She was like, 'No, that's why I had so many diapers. My mom made me wear a diaper.
Dee Dee Blanchard kept Gypsy's head shaved and forced her to use a wheelchair even though there was nothing wrong with her legs. Dee Dee Blanchard also convinced a physician to put a feeding tube into Gypsy and would tell people that Gypsy was mentally incompetent.
Dee Dee had pretended to the world that Gypsy Rose was severely physically and mentally ill — perhaps for the attention, sympathy, or so that Gypsy would be more reliant on Dee Dee. Part of that ruse included lying about Gypsy Rose's real age.
This is absolutely true, and is demonstrated, in passing, in The Act. While Gypsy Rose was allowed to have a relationship with her father in real life, Dee Dee lied about Rod and who he was, to people outside of her home. Per Buzzfeed: Dee Dee kept Rod updated on his daughter's whereabouts and medical circumstances.
And immediately after treating her like a literal child, Dee Dee is angry right back because Gypsy has started her period early. The offense was apparently that Gypsy didn't immediately alert her mother to this fact. Also, it's not exactly as if Dee Dee has made Gypsy very self sufficient after all these years.
In the most recent episode of The Act, Dee Dee Blanchard is shown being arrested for writing a bad check. In reality, this never happened, but Dee Dee's family claim that she did write bad checks. It's also speculated that Dee Dee played a role in her mother's death and tried to poison her stepmom.