For her whole childhood, Gypsy Rose Blanchard was told she was sick. And she was made to look it too.
Her mother - Clauddine 'Dee Dee' Blanchard - had been overly protective of her, instilling an 'us against the world' mentality between them and the rest of society.
"We are a pair of shoes," Gypsy once said. "Never good without the other."
Dee Dee was controlling of Gypsy's entire life, down to how her daughter dressed, how she moved, where she could go and what she could say.
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 knew no different. She says she loved her mother.
Watch the trailer for The Act, based on the true story of Gypsy Rose. Post continues below.
Dee Dee certainly didn't make Gypsy's plight private. Rather, she shared their story with anyone who would listen, Dee Dee receiving a home built by Habitat by Humanity as well as trips to Disney World paid for by nonprofit foundations.
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