Once consumed with anger and resentment at the abuse she suffered, Gypsy now reflects on their complicated relationship with a mixture of sadness and understanding. In the memoir, she also makes several shocking revelations about the abuse, manipulation and control she experienced under Dee Dee's care, shedding light on the extreme measures her mother allegedly took to maintain power over her.
From forced medical treatments to emotional and physical abuse, Gypsy Rose Blanchard candidly examines the lasting impact of her traumatic upbringing and how she worked to reclaim her life and identity.
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Gypsy Rose details the alleged abuse
Gypsy revealed that even as a child she acted as her mother's "emotional support surrogate".
"I'm all for the 'us against the world' idea if you're a fierce single mom, raising strong daughters, modeling what can be accomplished when you stick together," she wrote in her book. “But our 'us against the world' was more like her holding on to me. When I was very young, that stickiness was as sweet as molasses.”
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Dee Dee allegedly called a gypsy woman a 'slut'
She recounted disturbing details about the alleged physical and verbal abuse she suffered at the hands of her mother.
She described one incident in which, after she was caught talking to a man named Dan on the phone, Dee Dee called her a "slut" and repeatedly kicked her legs "like she was a boxer and I was a piece of meat hanging in cabinet in the freezer."
Gypsy has previously talked about Dan, an older man she met online after attending a convention, in previous interviews. She ended up running away to be with him a few months after making contact. Dee Dee eventually tracked her down to a friend's house in Springfield where Gypsy was staying with Dan. Dee Dee demanded that Gypsy come home, and Gypsy complied.
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Gypsy claims she was 'handcuffed' to the bed
"If she fell asleep, I couldn't move without waking her up," Gypsy recalled, adding that it lasted for two weeks. “I was at her mercy for everything – to go to the toilet, to get food, for everything. As a punishment, she didn't feed me every day, only a little soup every other day. I would often get hunger pangs.”
Gypsy claimed her mum "was right next to me and would eat whatever she wanted" and would keep "a knife by her bedside table, which she said was for protection if I tried to run away or do anything to leave".
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More about 'My Time To Stand'
Shortly after being released on parole, Gypsy Rose Blanchard revealed her plans to publish her memoir, sharing her side of the story.
U "My Time to Stand," Co-authored with Melissa Moore, Gypsy Rose Blanchard shares the harrowing story of growing up under the control of her mother, Dee Dee Blanchard. Believed by medical experts to be suffering from Minchausen syndrome by proxy, Dee Dee isolated Gypsy from her family to hide the fabricated medical conditions and unnecessary treatments she forced upon her daughter.
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"I'm in love with the title of my book not only because it deals with an issue that resonates with me the most, but because in our pain and struggle we can find what we want to stand for," she shared in a statement to PEOPLE Magazine earlier this year. “That within our stories, if we dare to sit in their silence, our purpose can be revealed. And we all have a purpose. I hope that's what people take away from my book.”
Gypsy Rose opens up about parenting
Dee Dee duped medical professionals, family members, and the public into believing that Gypsy was suffering from a number of serious illnesses, including leukemia, muscular dystrophy, epilepsy, and other chronic conditions. She also allegedly claimed that Gypsy had developmental delays, which made her completely dependent on her mother.
Gypsy's account reveals the devastating consequences her mother inflicted, which included the extraction of teeth and salivary glands, forcing her to use a wheelchair and inserting a feeding tube - all based on fabricated diagnoses.
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"Regardless of everything my mother and I have been through with each other - what I have done to her and what she has done to me - I am now carrying her grandchild," wrote Gypsy, who is pregnant with a baby girl. "Later today, when I see my baby on the doctor's monitor, I'm going to wish my mom was here for this."
“My Time To Stand” is out now.
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