Gypsy Rose Blanchard is pregnant.
The author and reality TV star, 32, who spent eight years in prison for her role in the 2015 murder of her allegedly abusive mother, Clauddine “Dee Dee” Blanchard, announced July 9 in a YouTube video that she and boyfriend Ken Urker were expecting their first child.
She also shared photos from a photoshoot with Urker on her Instagram page.
In her video, titled “I’m Pregnant, My Journey So Far,” Gypsy Rose Blanchard revealed she was 11 weeks pregnant and was due in January 2025.
“This was not planned at all. This was completely unexpected, but we’re both very excited to take on this new journey of parenthood,” Blanchard said in the video, which she also excerpted on TikTok.
Blanchard, who was released from prison in December 2023, addressed concerns.
“I know that there are going to be people who feel like I’m not ready to be a mother," she said. Her response? "I don’t know if anyone’s really ready to be a mother.”
“I just want to be a good mother for my child. I want to be everything my mother wasn’t,” she said.
Blanchard is believed to have been a victim of Munchausen syndrome by proxy, a psychological disorder in which a caretaker makes someone ill or creates the illusion of them being ill in order to receive attention.
Dee Dee Blanchard, Gypsy Rose Blanchard's mother, “was convinced Gypsy suffered from a wide range of health issues,” according to Ozarks First.
While on the stand during her trial, Gypsy Rose Blanchard described how her mother sought medical attention for her throughout her life to treat her for various conditions — including leukemia and muscular dystrophy — which she actually never had.
Gypsy Rose Blanchard detailed how she was forced to use both a wheelchair and an oxygen tank although she required neither, according to the Springfield News-Leader.
She also admitted on the stand that she arranged for then-boyfriend Nicholas Godejohn to kill her mother, according to Ozarks First.
Godejohn was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison after first pleading not guilty to stabbing Dee Dee Blanchard to death in her bedroom. He is currently serving a life sentence with no chance of parole at the Potosi Correctional Center, according to The Springfield News-Leader.
Blanchard met Urker after he wrote her a “letter of support” while she was in prison in 2017, she told E! News in 2019. Urker proposed to Blanchard while she was still behind bars in 2018.
The two later parted ways in 2019. Blanchard went on to marry another man, Ryan Anderson, in a prison wedding ceremony in 2022.
Blanchard began spending time with Urker again earlier this year following her split with Anderson. In an interview with TODAY.com earlier this year, Anderson said he felt "blindsided" by the breakup.
“I’m just experiencing things as they come. I’m still in reflection and processing mode,” he says. “A lot has happened. It’s hard to wrap my head around a lot of things that have happened because I mean, when I say I’m blindsided, I really am blindsided about how fast things progressed.”
Blanchard confirmed to People in May that she and Urker were back together, saying for the first time in her life, she’s “doing something that makes me happy — I’m prioritizing me.”
In her video announcement about her pregnancy, Blanchard said Urker has been supportive of her as she experiences pregnancy "mood swings."
"I have experienced crazy mood swings. Poor Ken. Like, Poor Ken," she said, adding, that she becomes irritated with Urker even if he just "breathes wrong."
"He's been very gracious about it. He's been very forgiving about it," she added.
Blanchard also mentioned dealing with some fatigue, but said in general, her pregnancy "has been a breeze" and noted that her baby-on-the-way was healthy.
Blanchard told viewers that her pregnancy has brought her peace of mind. "I feel a shift in myself. When I found I was pregnant, none of anything else mattered," she said. "The drama, the social media, the feud between creator and me and all of that drama, just all faded. It didn't matter anymore."
"All that matters is making sure that I'm healthy, the baby is healthy, my relationship with Ken is healthy and we are moving forward in a positive way," she added.
In her first interview after announcing the news, Blanchard explained how learned she was pregnant. She took a pregnancy test at her father Rod and stepmother Kristy's home. "Girl, you're pregnant," she recalled Kristy telling her.
Blanchard said she was surprised because she had recently been to the doctor about trouble ovulating, and had ruled out pregnancy.
“I literally had taken that out of my mind as a possibility,” she told People. Her reaction? "My dad is going to kill me!”
Based on People's interview, though, her family is supporting her.
"It’s such a blessing and it’s still unreal. They will be great parents and cherish every minute of it,” Blanchard's stepmother Kristy said. “When they hold their baby for the first time, they won’t be able to imagine their life without their child. Everything just melts away, even when she gets a lot of hate about it.”
TODAY.com has reached out to Blanchard for comment.
