Eleven Weeks Pregnant, Gypsy Rose Blanchard Is Excited for the “New Journey of Parenthood” (2024)

More than nine years after she plotted to kill her mother in a bizarre Munchausen syndrome by proxy case that grabbed national attention, Gypsy Rose Blanchard is out of prison and preparing for a new addition to her family.

Blanchard, 32, announced in a video posted to her YouTube channel Tuesday that she is expecting her first child with boyfriend Ken Urker in January 2025. “We’re both very excited; this was not planned at all,” she said. “It was completely unexpected, but we’re both very excited to take on this new journey of parenthood.”

The new baby is the latest surprise from Blanchard, who has stayed in the public eye ever since her release on December 28, 2023. She is already the subject of two television series and has revealed plans for her memoir, My Time to Stand, available this December.

Here’s what to know about all the recent changes in Gypsy Rose Blanchard’s life.

According to The Cincinnati Enquirer, Blanchard was released on parole from the Chillicothe Correctional Center at around 3:30 a.m. on December 28, 2023, after serving 85 percent of her 10-year sentence for second-degree murder. “I’m ready for freedom,” she told People in an interview just before her release. “I’m ready to expand, and I think that goes for every facet of my life.”

Blanchard conspired with an ex-boyfriend to kill her mother, Clauddine “Dee Dee” Blanchard, in June 2015 after suffering years of abuse. Experts have surmised that Dee Dee suffered from Munchausen syndrome by proxy, a mental disorder in which a caretaker makes someone sick or gives the illusion of being ill to garner attention. She led doctors and the community to believe that Gypsy suffered from an array of fake illnesses, such as asthma, leukemia, and muscular dystrophy, subjecting her to unnecessary treatments and procedures.

In 2021, Gypsy told The Springfield News-Leader she hoped to rebuild relationships with the rest of her family upon her eventual release. Her stepmother, Kristy Blanchard, told NewsNation host Ashleigh Banfield she looked forward to belatedly celebrating Christmas with Gypsy Rose upon her release and also planned a spa day for her. Today, Gypsy lives with Kristy and her father, Rod, in Cut Off, Louisiana.

In an interview with People, Blanchard expressed remorse about her mother’s murder and the events that preceded it.

Blanchard testified she met ex-boyfriend Nicholas Godejohn on a Christian dating website in 2012, and they initially carried out a secret relationship. They met in person for the first time in March 2015 and, shortly after, began plotting to kill her mother. Godejohn stabbed Dee Dee 17 times inside her home in June 2015. Gypsy said in 2018, she “talked him into it” because she wanted to be free from her mother. Godejohn was eventually found guilty of first-degree murder in 2018 and sentenced to life in prison.

“If I had another chance to redo everything, I don’t know if I would go back to when I was a child and tell my aunts and uncles that I’m not sick and mommy makes me sick. Or, if I would travel back to just the point of that conversation with Nick and tell him, ‘You know what, I’m going to go tell the police everything.’ I kind of struggle with that,” she told People in December 2023.

Gypsy Rose wants to use her story to help people in abusive relationships. No matter how dire the circ*mstances, she wants to make sure they don’t resort to murder. “It may seem like every avenue is closed off, but there is always another way. Do anything, but don’t take this course of action,” she said.

Hoping to be an advocate for other victims of Munchausen by proxy, Blanchard first told The News-Leader in 2021 that she was writing a book detailing the years-long abuse by Dee Dee and her incarceration. True to her word, Blanchard published an e-book titled Released: Conversations on the Eve of Freedom in January 2024. The book includes exclusive information about Blanchard’s time in prison and personal photos, drawings, and illustrations from her past.

Even before the book’s release, Blanchard had already opened up about the effect of her incarceration on her life. “I’m the type of person that, I will make a mistake, learn from it and move on, and hopefully never make it again,” she told The Hollywood Reporter. “So I definitely think that that level of maturity kicked in, and you can see the transformation from when I first got to prison to me actually walking out of prison and feeling, as a confident woman like I could stand my ground, say no when I need to, be my best advocate.”

On April 29, 2024, Blanchard revealed plans for her next writing project—a full memoir titled My Time to Stand—set for publication in December 2024. “Now, I can stand with other victims as they take steps toward doing whatever work is necessary to stand for themselves. My Time to Stand is about reclaiming my footing so others can be inspired to walk a life of purpose and meaning and build a future sturdy enough so others can stand for something, too,” she told People.

Years removed from her relationship with Godejohn, Blanchard found love while imprisoned. She married Ryan Anderson, a teacher from Louisiana, in June 2022. According to People, Anderson, now 38, picked up Blanchard from prison when she was released.

Before gaining her freedom, Blanchard told People, “When I’m at home with my family, with my husband’s arms around me and I’m surrounded by my loved ones, that is when I will be happy.” However, she had an apparent change of heart. Blanchard announced in a March 2024 post to Facebook she had moved in with her father and stepmother amid a separation from Anderson and, on April 8, filed for divorce, according to Louisiana court records. The legal grounds for the filing weren’t made public.

Anderson later told Daily Mail.com the pair separated over Blanchard’s rekindled relationship with her ex-fiancé, Ken Urker. “I’m not doing well with it. For me it just came out of the blue,” Anderson said.

TMZ reported on April 30 that Blanchard and her ex-fiancé Ken Urker were an official couple, with her telling the outlet, “After reconnecting earlier this month, we realized that our love for each other is simply undeniable, and life is too short to not take a chance.” They have repeatedly appeared in public together and were spotted with matching tattoos.

On July 9, Blanchard announced she was 11 weeks pregnant and expecting her first child with Urker in January 2025. “It is so going to be a long journey ahead, but I’m up for it,” said Blanchard, who vowed to focus on her and her child’s health. “I feel a shift in myself. When I found out that I was pregnant, none of anything else mattered.”

In the meantime, Blanchard and her family are currently featured in the Lifetime reality series Gypsy Rose: Life After Lock Up, which began on June 3. According to the network, the show provides a “raw and revealing look at Gypsy’s new life on the outside,” including her relationship with Anderson and rising media fame. The eight-episode series continues through July 22, with a new episode airing each Monday night at 9 p.m. ET.

Lifetime previously aired the three-night docuseries The Prison Confessions of Gypsy Rose Blanchard in January 2024. Prison Confessions was a major hit for the network, averaging 1.1 million viewers with three days of delayed viewing, according to The Hollywood Reporter. “Millions have followed Gypsy’s story and are invested in seeing what is in store for her next,” said Elaine Frontain Bryant, executive vice president and head of programming for Lifetime.

In addition to her TV projects, Blanchard wasted little time establishing a presence on social media upon her release. Only one day after leaving prison, Blanchard posted a photo to her Instagram account with a celebratory caption: “First selfie of freedom!” Then, on New Year’s Eve, she revealed via TikTok that she was celebrating with family members—including her father, her stepmother, and her husband—and had joined Snapchat (gr_blanchard).

Blanchard had amassed as many as 7.8 million followers on her public Instagram but, in March 2024, deleted that page as well as several others on social media, including her X and TikTok accounts. “I do my best to live my authentic life, and what’s real to me, and what’s not real is social media,” Blanchard said in a TikTok video before logging off, according to Rolling Stone. “Social media is literally a doorway to hell.”

But Blanchard had an apparent change of heart and has since returned to social media. She regularly posts on her verified Instagram (gypsy.rose.blanchard.insta) and TikTok (gypsyblanchard.tiktok) accounts. She also posted the first video to her YouTube channel on June 27.