On August 10, Blanchard announced the gender of her baby in a brief video. “The moment y’all have been waiting for… It’s a girl!” Blanchard shared in the caption. “Ken and I are over the moon and are so excited to start our family.”
Later that same month, the star of “Gypsy Rose: Life After Lock Up” revealed her growing baby bump in an Instagram post showcasing her in a white crop top paired with green shorts.
Blanchard is thought to have been a victim of Munchausen syndrome by proxy, a psychological condition in which a caregiver – in her case, her own mother, Clauddine “Dee Dee” Blanchard – induces illness or fabricates symptoms in another individual to garner attention.
During her testimony regarding her involvement in her mother’s demise, Blanchard recounted how her mother constantly sought medical treatment for her throughout her life, subjecting her to medical interventions for conditions she did not actually have, such as leukemia and muscular dystrophy. Blanchard also detailed how her mother made her use a wheelchair and oxygen tank despite her not needing them, as reported by the Springfield News-Leader.
In a televised interview with Dr. Phil McGraw in 2017, Blanchard disclosed that her mother had shaved her head to feign baldness and made her consume food through a feeding tube.
While on trial, Blanchard confessed to orchestrating the murder of her mother with her then-boyfriend Nicholas Godejohn, as documented by Ozarks First. Godejohn was convicted of first-degree murder and is currently serving a life sentence, according to The Springfield News-Leader.
While incarcerated, Blanchard connected with Urker after he penned her a “letter of support” in 2017, as shared with “E! News” in 2019. Urker proposed to Blanchard during her imprisonment in 2018, but the relationship dissolved in 2019.
In 2022, Blanchard tied the knot with another individual, Ryan Anderson, in a prison wedding ceremony. However, the union between Blanchard and Anderson ended in 2024.
Blanchard confirmed to People in May that she and Urker had rekindled their romance. “I’m in love,” she expressed to the publication. “(Urker) was a support when I was going through emotional hardship. But then I let myself open up to the feelings I’ve always had for him. For the first time in my life, I’m doing something that makes me happy – I’m prioritizing me.”
This article was originally published on TODAY.com.
