What Gypsy Rose Blanchard's life is like now, 8 years after she murdered her mother.

It's the case that gripped the world and put the condition of 'Munchausen syndrome by proxy' in the spotlight. 

In 2015, Gypsy Rose Blanchard, then 23, orchestrated the murder of her mother Clauddine 'Dee Dee' Blanchard.

But as the Blanchard case moved to trial, the world learned the dark truth of Gypsy's past. She had endured years of medical child abuse at the hands of her mother.

Gypsy never actually knew how old she was, and was confined to a wheelchair, with her head shaved. Her mother told her she was terminally ill, and that she had everything from leukaemia to muscular dystrophy to seizures, and developmental issues that meant she had the mental capacity of a seven-year-old.

Gypsy had none of those things.

Watch the trailer for The Act, based on the true story of Gypsy Rose. Post continues below.

Dee Dee suffered from Munchausen syndrome by proxy, which is now known as a 'factitious disorder imposed on another'. As the name suggests, the condition makes a guardian exaggerate or induce illness in a child for attention and sympathy. Police also believe money was a motive.

Dee Dee received a home built by Habitat by Humanity as well as trips to Disney World paid for by nonprofit foundations. She went as far as to dupe healthcare providers into making false diagnoses and prescribing unnecessary medications.

She also, according to Gypsy, chained her to the bed and hit her with coat hangers. If she escaped, police wouldn't believe her, Dee Dee told her.

It wasn't until Gypsy was a teenager that she started questioning her age, why she wasn't allowed to have friends or boyfriends, and her medical conditions.

But it was a boy Gypsy met online that changed everything. She would go on to convince him to kill her mother for her.

Nicholas Godejohn stabbed Dee Dee to death in her sleep with a stolen knife and gloves Gypsy had taken from a local Walwart. She hid in the bathroom, while Nicholas carried out the crime.

For his part, Nicholas is serving life in prison without parole.

Gypsy Rose and Dee Dee Blanchard. Image: Supplied.

The prosecutor in Gypsy's case called it "extraordinary and unusual." He declined to seek the death penalty, even though it's available for such crimes under Missouri law. Gypsy accepted a plea bargain agreement in 2016 for 10 years and the charge of second-degree murder.

With good behaviour time in mind, Gypsy is now eligible for parole in December 2023. 

The now 32-year-old is gearing up towards a life outside of prison.

But for the past seven years, Gypsy is said to have been actually thriving, and reportedly says it's the first time she's tasted freedom.

"If she had a choice to either be in jail, or back with her mum, she would rather be in jail," her stepmother told Springfield News-Leader.

Dee Dee's own family have admitted they didn't regret her death, saying Gypsy had been punished enough.

"She is thriving," her stepmother Kirsty Blanchard said in 2018, a few years into the sentence.

"There has been no long-term side effects from all the medication her mum had given her. She has a clean bill of health, thank God - and I really only think what it has done was stunt her growth. Now, don't get me wrong, her eyes, she does have a lazy eye if she doesn't wear her glasses all the time. That was since she was a little baby. Everything else was all a lie."

In an interview with ABC News, Gypsy said she has been upbeat. She has earned her GED, an American high school diploma, in prison and she has studied photography.

Gypsy Rose Blanchard now, recently featuring in an episode of Dr Phil. Image: Dr Phil.

"The prison that I was living in before, with my mum - I couldn't walk. I couldn't eat. I couldn't have friends. I feel like I'm freer in prison than living with my mum. I guess now I'm allowed to just live like a normal woman," she explained.

Gypsy has also managed to build a stronger relationship with her birth father, who she says she didn't get to see during her childhood - mostly due to Dee Dee. 

When she leaves jail, he and her stepmother will be waiting for her.

"She'll always have a home here … We'll put her on the right path," her dad told People.

There will also be another person waiting outside the prison for Gypsy. And it will be her husband, Ryan Scott Anderson.

Gypsy and Ryan were able to marry one another on June 27, 2022, as per the wedding certificate. It remains unclear how the couple met or what Ryan does for a living. But the pair are certainly married. It is believed the pair were pen pals.

Next year to mark her return to life outside of prison, a docuseries about Gypsy's life will also be released.

Lifetime's The Prison Confessions of Gypsy Rose Blanchard will air in January, Gypsy saying it's an opportunity to "finally get to use my voice, to share my story and speak my truth".

"As a survivor of relentless child abuse, this docuseries chronicles my quest for liberation and journey through self-discovery," she said in a statement to People this week.

"I am unapologetically myself and unafraid to expose the hidden parts of my life that have never been revealed until now."

This article was originally published in 2019, and has since been updated with new information.

Feature Image: Lifetime/Hulu.