Who are Gypsy Rose Blanchard's surviving family members? Meet her dad Rod and stepmom Kristy Blanchard
- Gypsy Rose reconnected with her father, Rod Blanchard, and stepmom, Kristy Blanchard.
- Rod Blanchard split from Gypsy's mom, Dee Dee, shortly after Gypsy was born in 1991.
On December 28, 2023, Gypsy Rose Blanchard was released from prison on parole after pleading guilty to second-degree murder and being sentenced to 10 years in prison in 2016.
Today, Blanchard's story is well-known. In 2015, she conspired with Nicholas Godejohn, her then-boyfriend whom she met on a Christian dating site, to kill her mother, Clauddine "Dee Dee" Blanchard.
Dee Dee is believed to have a condition known as Munchausen by proxy and forced Gypsy to undergo unnecessary medical treatment and present with illnesses and disabilities that she did not have. Gypsy has since characterized her mother's treatment as abuse.
Now, Gypsy is celebrating her freedom and married life with her husband, Ryan Scott Anderson, whom she wed in 2022 while behind bars. And while her story has previously been documented in the Hulu miniseries "The Act" and the HBO documentary "Mommy Dead and Dearest," Gypsy is now promoting a new Lifetime docuseries called "The Prison Confessions of Gypsy Rose Blanchard."
Her father and stepmother have also been involved in her life, and both appear in the new documentary series. Here's what you need to know about them and Gypsy's half-siblings.
Rod Blanchard is Gypsy Rose Blanchard's father
According to an August 2016 report by BuzzFeed News, Rod Blanchard met Gypsy's mother, Dee Dee, while he was still in high school. He was 17 when Dee Dee, 24, became pregnant and married her. However, he told BuzzFeed News that he realized on his 18th birthday that he wasn't meant to be married to her.
"I wasn't in love with her, really. I knew I got married for the wrong reasons," Rod said.
Rod went on to marry his wife, Kristy Blanchard, and they had two children. The couple saw Gypsy frequently until she was 10 years old. Rod told BuzzFeed News that he and Kristy attempted to plan trips to visit Gypsy after she and Dee Dee moved to Missouri.
"For one reason or another, it would never work out," he told the publication.
He also paid Dee Dee $1,200 in child support monthly, even after Gypsy's 18th birthday passed, because he believed that Gypsy was still not able to care for herself. He first saw her walk, he told BuzzFeed News, in news footage.
"I was really happy that she was walking," he said.
Rod became involved in Gypsy's life again during her time in prison. In 2017, after his daughter's sentencing, he told People that he and Kristy were still learning about things that had happened while Gypsy was under Dee Dee's care. At the time, he promised that they would be there for Gypsy when she was released.
"She'll always have a home here," he said. "We'll put her on the right path."
Kristy Blanchard is Gypsy's stepmother
According to "The Prison Confessions of Gypsy Rose Blanchard," Kristy Blanchard began dating Rod when Gypsy was six months old.
Kristy, Rod's second wife, told BuzzFeed News she was involved in Gypsy's life until Dee moved away. She also recalled going on various family outings, including the Special Olympics with Gypsy.
Like her husband, she spoke to Gypsy often but never found the chance to plan a visit to Missouri.
Speaking about her stepmother in the Lifetime docuseries, Gypsy called Kristy the "mom that I always wanted to have," and said she can't imagine life without her.
After her release from prison, Gypsy shared a selfie of herself and Kristy with a cat ear Snapchat filter. "Snapchat fun with my stepmom Kristy," she captioned the photo.
Mia Blanchard is Gypsy's half-sister
Mia Blanchard, 22, is a decade younger than Gypsy. She was born in 2001. Like her parents, she was also involved in the 2017 HBO documentary "Mommy Dead and Dearest."
She and Gypsy appear to be close as the day after Gypsy was released on parole, she posted an Instagram photo with her younger sister, which she captioned "Sister Love."
Mia shared the same photo on her page, alongside others of Gypsy's homecoming party, also attended by Gypsy's husband, Ryan Scott Anderson, Rod, and Kristy.
In the new Lifetime documentary, Mia said of Gypsy's sentencing: "I always thought that 10 years was too long."
She also expressed her sadness that she and Gypsy had such different upbringings."I feel sorry Gypsy didn't get the life that I got to live," she said. "I got to grow up with a loving father and a loving mother, I got to grow up going to school with my friends, hanging out with my friends, learning to do all these things and she never had that. That was taken away from her by her mother."Dylan Blanchard is Gypsy's half-brother
Through her dad's second marriage, Gypsy also has a half-brother, Dylan Blanchard. However, unlike the rest of the family, Dylan prefers to keep his life out of the spotlight and has not participated in public-facing projects about his half-sister.