5 Bombshells From Gypsy Rose Blanchard's Memoir

Gypsy Rose Blanchard is telling her story.

The 33-year-old, who pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in 2016 for helping orchestrate the murder of her mother Dee Dee Blanchard, released her own book, My Time to Stand: A Memoir on Tuesday, December 10.

The title was likely inspired by the years of abuse Gypsy allegedly faced at the hands of her mother as a victim of Munchausen syndrome by proxy.

Munchausen syndrome by proxy is a form of child abuse in which the caretaker, most often a mother, makes up fakes symptoms — or causes real ones — to make it look like the child is sick, often to gain attention, per MedlinePlus. Gypsy spent years of her life in a wheelchair, being made to lie, despite knowing she could walk.

The alleged abuse Gypsy faced at the hands of her late mother was examined in the 2017 HBO Max documentary Mommy Dead and Dearest. She has personally spoken about her experiences in the Lifetime documentary series The Prison Confessions of Gypsy Rose Blanchard, and the Lifetime reality TV series Gypsy Rose: Life After Lock Up.

In her memoir, Gypsy — who served eight years in prison, and was released in December 2023 — opened up about her mother's murder, her time in prison, her struggles with addiction, and more. Below are some of the biggest bombshells from Gypsy Rose Blanchard's newly-released memoir.

An unnecessary throat surgery was the final straw

In an excerpt shared with People, Gypsy revealed that an upcoming voice box surgery was the "final straw" that set her plans to kill her mother into motion.

One day her mother decided her voice was too "squeaky" and took her to an ear, nose, and throat specialist, who referred her to a pulmonologist. After the doctor scheduled an "exploratory" surgery of her larynx, Gypsy, who described being "brutalized" by scars from previous throat surgeries, had had enough. "My mother tried to cut my throat. At least that's how I saw it," she wrote.

At this point, she said the "ruse had been up between us for a while," explaining that she'd tried to run away twice by the time she turned 23, and even shot her mother with a BB gun. Her mother allegedly responded with more intense physical punishments and by chaining her to her bed. Gypsy also wrote that her mother stopped letting her use her motorized wheelchair because she couldn't control it.

Gypsy believed her mother taking away her voice would be her "final play" at silencing her, and could even result in her death. "If it wasn't the voice box surgery, the odds seemed to be increasingly in favor of me dying on one of the operating tables," she wrote.

After years of countless surgeries — including one that removed her salivary glands — Gypsy wrote she "suddenly felt the urgency to avoid this surgery at all costs."

She struggled with addiction until she hit "rock bottom" in prison

In her book, Gypsy recounts struggling with substance abuse throughout her life, but relapsing in prison. She said she turned to painkillers to "leave my world behind," but that she had to "be present" in order to heal. However, she was afraid of withdrawals from the meds, like Suboxone, and it took hitting her "rock bottom" to make a change.

This happened when Gypsy lied to her stepmother, Kristy Blanchard, asking for $50 to reimburse another prisoner for a CD player she claimed she had accidentally broken, per InTouch. "Kristy trusted me and I hurt that trust. I used the money to buy drugs," Gypsy wrote, explaining that it was Kristy's forgiveness that "surprised" and inspired her to finally quit.

"It gave me the courage to quit. Cold turkey. I told myself that this time around, at least I knew what to expect. Facing my demons had to be done sober," she said.

Her grandfather was also allegedly abusive

Gypsy briefly touched upon alleged abuse at the hands of grandfather Claude Pitre in her Lifetime series, The Prison Confessions of Gypsy Rose Blanchard, though he denied all accusations. In her book, she gets into more detail, explaining he was "touchy-feely," but she thought that was just "what grandpas were supposed to be."

She wrote about her grandfather, whom she called "Daddy Claude," in the fourth chapter of her book, per excerpts obtained by InTouch. She recalled a story from when she was five years old, where she watched her mother take a bath with him, before trading places with her.

"My mother at almost 30 years old was a lot skinnier back then. Father and daughter trying to fit into the small tub together reminded me of those miniature circus cars filled with an illogical number of clowns," she wrote.

She continued, "After my mother was done washing Daddy Claude's back, and she turned so he could do hers, she'd call to me, 'It's your turn,' and she'd get out of the tub and undress me, carry me over, and plop me in the water."

Her mother tried to punish her with what seemed like witchcraft

Gypsy has spoken in her various documentaries about trying to run away with a man named Dan whom she met online when she was 19, and he was in his 30s. In her book, she details the escape attempt, including how it was foiled when she learned Dan was on parole, and therefore couldn't leave the state to run away with her.

After Dee Dee found Gypsy and made her return home, in addition to making her take a pregnancy test, smashing her laptop, and taking her TracFone, she also performed a sort of ritual.

"She took a mason jar and shoved a picture of me and the picture of Dan into it, with a cow's tongue — the tongue was to represent silencing me," Gypsy recalled. "She dropped a piece of toilet paper that had some of my period blood in the jar and buried it in the backyard, not far from the shed. I observed her bizarre behavior, like an outsider, detached and confused. She chanted over me something like, 'By God, Gypsy Rose will never find true love. Gypsy Rose will never find happiness.' All I heard was, Gypsy will never be free."

She wishes her mother was still here

Gypsy ends her book by looking back on the death of her mother, nine years later. Her mother died on June 10, 2015, and Gypsy couldn't help but reflect when the sonogram for the child she is expecting with fiancé Ken Urker was scheduled for June 10, 2024.

"Regardless of everything that my mother and I went through with each other — what I did to her and what she did to me — I'm now carrying her grandchild. Later today, when I see my baby on the doctor's monitor, I will wish that my mom was here for this," she wrote.

My Time to Stand: A Memoir, written by Gypsy Rose Blanchard, Melissa Moore, and Michele Matrisciani, is on sale now.

If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or go to https://www.rainn.org/.

If you or someone you know is struggling with substance abuse, contact the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).

This was originally published on Newsweek.