Another Gypsy Rose Case? Girl, 15, Claims Mum Has Spent Five Years Convincing Doctors She's Sick

A 15-year-old girl has sparked concern online after claiming that her mother has spent years exaggerating her symptoms and convincing doctors that she is seriously ill.

In a post shared on Reddit's AskDocs community, the anonymous teenager said the situation has continued for around five years, leaving her unsure about what is actually wrong with her.

'I've been pretty sure for like 2 years that she's making most of this up, but it's confusing and idk I thought maybe she was right and I was just brushing off things. Sometimes it would feel like she was right,' she wrote.

She said she created a private Reddit account after searching online for help, fearing her mother's behaviour may have influenced her medical care. She takes several medications, has multiple diagnoses, and has attended numerous appointments.

Her account has drawn comparisons to the case of Gypsy Rose Blanchard, whose mother was accused of fabricating and exaggerating her daughter's illnesses.

The Gypsy Rose Blanchard Connection

Gypsy Rose Blanchard became the centre of one of America's most shocking cases of alleged medical child abuse after it emerged that her mother, Clauddine 'Dee Dee' Blanchard, had presented her daughter as severely and chronically ill for years.

Gypsy was believed to suffer from numerous serious conditions and was often portrayed as wheelchair-bound and dependent on her mother, who received sympathy as the devoted carer of a seriously disabled child. But the story took a horrific turn in 2015 when Dee Dee was found stabbed to death in her Missouri home.

Gypsy, who had been reported missing, was eventually found alive with her boyfriend Nicholas Godejohn. Investigators later found that many illnesses and disabilities attributed to her had been fabricated or exaggerated, and that Gypsy had undergone unnecessary medical treatment.

Gypsy ultimately pleaded guilty to second-degree murder for her role in her mother's killing and was sentenced to 10 years in prison. She was released on parole in December 2023.

The case became one of the world's best-known examples of what is now described as 'fabricated or induced illness,' referring to a form of child abuse in which a parent or carer exaggerates, invents, or deliberately causes symptoms to convince others that a child is ill.

'She Was Good at Convincing Me'

The Reddit user's account is particularly troubling because she says she has genuine diagnoses, including epilepsy, ADHD, and an undifferentiated connective tissue disorder, but believes her mother may have exaggerated other symptoms.

She said the situation began after she experienced a seizure at age 10 during a school field trip.

'My mom had always been really intense anytime I got sick,' she wrote. 'She took me to the doctor for every single cold. But this seizure sent her overboard.'

According to the teenager, her mother subsequently became convinced she had multiple conditions, including POTS and Ehlers-Danlos syndrome.

'At first I believed her,' she wrote. 'She was good at convincing me I was feeling things or that stuff happened that I didn't remember.'

She alleged her mother would report symptoms she did not have, including fevers, and give her medication before appointments.

'It's like she'll plant things too,' the teenager wrote. 'She'll start saying, "You seem lightheaded. Your joints look swollen. You look out of focus," like she's trying to convince me.'

The NHS says FII can involve exaggerating or inventing symptoms or misrepresenting a child's medical history. However, a single warning sign does not prove FII, and genuine conditions can coexist with concerns about symptom reporting.