Dee Dee was also charming and seemed devoted to her daughter. She'd had some nurse's training, so she could accurately describe symptoms, and she sometimes gave Gypsy medication to mimic certain conditions. And many caregivers went along with what Dee Dee wanted. Medical tests often showed inconclusive or contradictory results regarding Gypsy's diagnoses, but Dee Dee would stop seeing any doctors who questioned her daughter's ailments. Dee Dee appeared to be a charming, devoted mother, so people believed her Experts believe Dee Dee had a mental illness known as Munchausen syndrome by proxy (also called factitious disorder imposed on another), which made her fabricate her daughter's ill health in order to receive attention and sympathy for taking care of a sick child. Her head was bald only because her mother shaved off her hair. Yet the truth was that Gypsy could walk, didn't need a feeding tube and did not have cancer. When Gypsy's teeth rotted - perhaps due to her medications, missing salivary glands or neglect - they were pulled out.

She also went through multiple surgeries, including procedures on her eyes and removal of her salivary glands. The list of medical problems that Dee Dee related about her daughter would go on to include seizures, asthma and hearing and visual impairments.ĭue to Dee Dee's actions, Gypsy was prescribed a litany of medications and had to sleep using a breathing machine. When Gypsy was eight years old, Dee Dee described her as suffering from leukemia and muscular dystrophy and said she required a wheelchair and feeding tube. Gypsy Rose, who was born in 1991, was a baby when Dee Dee claimed her daughter had sleep apnea. Dee Dee began pretending that Gypsy had different illnesses when Gypsy was a baby Watch the fictionalized mini-series The Act about Dee Dee and Gypsy or the documentary Mommy Dead and Dearest. The truth about Gypsy and her mother only came out after Gypsy arranged for an online boyfriend to murder Dee Dee in 2015. 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.

However, Gypsy wasn't actually unwell - her mother had been lying about her symptoms. Gypsy Rose Blanchard grew up with her mother, Dee Dee Blanchard, making claims about her health that resulted in a series of dire diagnoses and medical interventions.

The act is based on a true story