Gypsy Rose's medical bills were covered by Medicaid, though her mother convinced her that they were surviving solely on donations, food stamps, and social security. Gypsy Rose and Dee Dee were moved into a house built by Habitat for Humanity and were flown across the country for celebrity meet-and-greets, concerts, speeches, trips to Disney World, and more. Soon, the story of the displaced single mother-slash-caretaker and her disabled daughter caught media attention. Dee Dee had already convinced doctors that Gypsy Rose's medical records were lost in the hurricane, along with many of their belongings. After their story spread, they were moved from Louisiana to Springfield, Missouri. Gypsy Rose became a local celebrityĪccording to ABC News, in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, Gypsy Rose and her mother were housed in local shelter in Covington, Louisiana. Dee Dee did all the talking, giving the doctors a detailed account of her daughter's symptoms, aches, and previous illnesses. The police department accepted Dee Dee's claims without further investigation, and simply noted in their report that Gypsy did indeed suffer from 'a mental handicap.ABC reviewed Gypsy Rose's medical records and concluded that she was treated by at least 150 different doctors, but every appointment had one thing in common: Gypsy Rose never spoke. He was not notified, and the claims went unchecked. Rod Blanchard, Gypsy's father, sent Dee Dee money monthly for his daughter's care. When the police paid Dee Dee and Gypsy a visit, Dee Dee explained that the inconsistent birth dates and name spellings were designed to evade an abusive husband.

Two years later, an anonymous call to the Springfield Police Department expressed doubt that Gypsy was truly ill and requested authorities to take a look at inconsistencies on her birth certificate. Though the girl had a relatively clean bill of health, doctors chose not to probe and instead treated her for vision, hearing, sleep, and salivation problems that stemmed from the muscular dystrophy Dee Dee insisted Gypsy had.Īccording to the BuzzFeed article, one doctor in Springfield, Missouri, pediatric neurologist Bernardo Flasterstein, did tell Dee Dee about his doubts in 2007 he even noted 'a strong possibility of Munchausen by proxy.' But nothing came of his suspicions. With MSBP, doctors may be reluctant to bring up any suspicions that a patient or their caretaker is lying or exaggerating symptoms, because it could be harmful to the patient's wellbeing.Īs early as 2001, tests for Gypsy's muscular dystrophy and her brain and spine scans all came up negative for any issues.

Patricia Arquette and Joey King in The Act Hulu + Brownie Harris People became suspicious about Gypsy's conditions.

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