[ . Hulu's The Act explores the real-life story of Gypsy Rose Blanchard and her mother Dee Dee, who had Munchausen syndrome by proxy. In 2002, Angela Cannings was convicted of murdering her two sons, seven-week-old Jason who passed away in 1991 and 18-week-old Matthew who died in 1999. Three days after the death of Timothy, Allitt found her next intended victim, one-year-old Kayley Desmond, who was suffering from a chest infection. Okay, this one is a stretch, but an interesting Psychology Today re-interpretation of the film points out that Coraline's experiences with The Other Mother, combined with her mom's odd gardening (why would you grow an herb that causes paralysis?) Eddie sees It in the form of a hideous leper, revealing his fear of disease and germs. The Kissing Booth star Joey King has also received an overwhelming amount of praise for her portrayal of Gypsy Rose Blanchard. Baron Munchausen (/ ˈ m ʌ n tʃ aʊ z ən, ˈ m ʊ n tʃ-/; German: [ˈmʏnçˌhaʊzn̩]) is a fictional German nobleman created by the German writer Rudolf Erich Raspe in his 1785 book Baron Munchausen's Narrative of his Marvellous Travels and Campaigns in Russia.The character is loosely based on a real baron, Hieronymus Karl Friedrich, Freiherr von Münchhausen. In retirement, this gentleman entertained his friends with preposterous stories, completely deadpan, about his time in the Russian army fighting the Turks. Research and case studies have suggested that individuals may have suffered emotional trauma or illness during childhood, they may actually have a personality disorder, or they might hold grudges against healthcare professionals. She had given birth four months early, and the twins had been stillborn. During her second appeal in January 2003, her conviction was overturned when it became known that Meadow had made a mistake in his calculations and the pathologists had failed to turn over a report showing that Harry had suffered from a bacterial infection, meaning that he had probably died of natural causes. In 2005, when Jennifer was 18, the ban was lifted at her request, and she was permitted to see her mother again. Both parents were ordered not to have contact with their children unless it was granted by the court. Il documento intitolato « Sindrome di Munchausen: casi, storie e diagnosi » dal sito Magazine delle donne (magazinedelledonne.it) è reso disponibile sotto i termini della licenza Creative Commons. She was denied parole four times. popbuzz.co/36GK9Pq pic.twitter.com/UxtnlFEAp3, Harry Styles' mum says she "always" encouraged him to, QUIZ: We know your age based on your 2020 Netflix, Kamala Harris is being praised for including her gender, Trump claimed it cost $70,000 to do his hair and people, QUIZ: Answer 9 questions and we'll tell you when your. All rights reserved. Austin had to undergo surgery and have a feeding tube inserted. It was also revealed that her great-grandmother and grandmother had also had children who died in the same manner. The prosecution relied heavily on testimony by Sir Roy Meadow, a famed British pediatrician and expert on MSBP. Eddie in It has a lot going on besides his mother's hypochondriacal control over his life, though his asthma inhaler is an omnipresent reminder. The name Munchausen originally belonged to a real-life German army captain, Karl Friedrich Hieronymus, Baron von Münchhausen (1720-97). 2020 Bustle Digital Group. She maintains her innocence and plans on appealing her conviction. The now childless Marybeth decided to have more children. Under Allitt’s care, he went into respiratory distress twice. His mother took him off life support the following day. The community even set up donation boxes to help out the family. She then said that she’d had the twins cremated and wanted to plan the funeral when she left the hospital. It can be extremely difficult for healthcare professionals to help those who have Munchausen syndrome, for this reason. Soon, hospital staff became suspicious, suspecting Montano of having MSBP. Others believe it should be confronted directly and those with Munchausen syndrome should be asked why they've lied about the symptoms and having an illness. About a year later, Clark gave birth to her second son, Harry. My parents and I have picked up from where we left off, and have a very close and loving relationship. The prosecution painted Clark as a lonely drunk who resented her children because she had to give up her high-paying job as a lawyer to stay at home. Although the drug is used when a patient goes into cardiac arrest, it’s never given to children. Hours after his release, his lifeless body was brought back to the hospital. Takashi Miike's kitchen-sink J-horror movie features a twist on an MBP case — as explored in this very detailed New Yorker article, false accusations of MBP are becoming increasingly common. Munchausen syndrome by proxy (MSBP), also known as factitious disorder, is when a caregiver, usually the child’s mother or a female close to the child, fabricates a child’s illness. She was sentenced to eight years in prison. Next came the deaths of Nathan, Mary Frances, Jonathan, and her adopted child, Michael. The pathologist was banned from Home Office pathology and coroner work for three years. In early 2015, her most recent parole was also denied. She was arrested and pled guilty to child cruelty and perverting the course of justice. She found him unconscious in his bouncy chair when he was eight weeks old. . The family was already under investigation by CPS. She was able to be resuscitated. She was sentenced to life in prison. She had suffered a weakened immune system, digestive issues, and seizures. Meadow was taken off the medical register, but he was reinstated a year later. Today, I can proudly say my family is extremely close knit. Clark was unable to recover from the incident. The tragic case of Sally Clark began in 1996 when her 11-week-old son, Christopher, suddenly died. In extreme cases, the person causes the child to actually become sick, often with dire and sometimes fatal consequences. On June 14, 2015, the Greene Country sheriff's department received a call that Dee Dee's body had been found, facedown in bedroom at her house near Springfield, Missouri. Montano was observed playing with her daughter’s IV line and then covering the camera lens. A month later, Clark was arrested for murdering her two sons. She was sentenced to 13 concurrent sentences of life imprisonment with the judge imposing a minimum term of 30 years, meaning that Allitt can be released in 2022. As a result of her medical issues, her appendix, gallbladder, and some of her small intestine had been removed. The individual enjoys the attention and sympathy that she receives for having a sick child as well as the praise for being such a devoted mother. After the second occurrence, he was left alone with Allitt. Perhaps Marybeth snapped, overcome by grief at the loss of her newborn or perhaps she enjoyed the sympathy that she received at the loss, but Marybeth soon began killing all of her children. A few weeks after that, her daughter Barbara began convulsing and was rushed to the hospital where she passed away the following day. Another fictional take on the same relationship explored in The Act, Love You To Death stars Marcia Gay Harden as Dee Dee Blanchard. It was the same story as Joseph Jr. She had found the boy dead in his crib. Less than a month after Jennifer’s death, her son Joseph Jr. passed away. Calista Flockhart stars in this story of a nurse trying to figure out what evil force is hurting the children in her ward. At one week old, he fell ill with pneumonia, requiring him to be put in an incubator. On the evening of December 13, Clark, who was home alone with Christopher, put him to bed. ✨ Can there be such a thing as "voluntary" MBP used as a marital aide? Several of the women he gave testimony against later had their convictions overturned when it was revealed that he gave inaccurate and misleading information and statistics. He went along with Leslie in allowing Nathan to sleep in a box. Per the Mayo Clinic, the disordered individual "falsely claims that another person has physical or psychological signs or symptoms of illness, or causes injury or disease in another person with the intention of deceiving others." Police then seized all medical records and conducted a search of the home. According to Meadow, the deaths fit the criteria of factitious disorder. Within days after her mother’s arrest, Jennifer was transferred to another hospital that specialized in feeding disorders. In January 2014, Garnett was once again admitted to the hospital where it was determined that he had dangerously high sodium levels. Austin was immediately placed in foster care. The little girl was transferred to intensive care. Leslie Wilfred and her husband, Chris, were married in 2007. Typical signs and symptoms of Munchausen syndrome include: - Pretending to have psychological symptoms, like hearing voices or seeing things that aren't there. But the question remains: How many innocent women were convicted based on his testimony or by other doctors who followed his theories? Marybeth had brought him to the hospital saying that he’d had a seizure. As for Meadow, his reputation was destroyed. Nurses became suspicious because young Jennifer always seemed to get worse after visits with her mother. He died less than a month later. Testing determined that both children had E. coli. By the time he was nine months old, he weighed the same as a child half his age. READ MORE: The Act viewers are horrified by the Gypsy Rose grooming storyline in episode 3. The 1994 Lifetime movie A Child's Cry For Help was one of the earliest movies to foreground the disease, though Rolling Stone notes cases of MBP were making the news back in the '60s. When checking on him a few hours later, she found him unconscious. And in this film, what seems a case of vengeful ghost and vicious mother is revealed to be something even more malignant. Allitt was arrested and charged with four counts of murder, 11 counts of attempted murder, and 11 counts of causing grievous bodily harm. Appearing on television, she told everyone that her son had a life-threatening food allergy that left him unable to eat and caused him to have a tube inserted into his stomach. During the trial, a nurse testified to having found syringes in the mother’s purse. 17 April 2019, 13:00 | Updated: 17 April 2019, 16:10. Hayden-Johnson earned national attention with her story. A social worker told the court that Montano expressed surprise that no one had called CPS earlier. True crime series, The Act, premiered on Hulu in the US on March 20, 2019 and since its release, the show has sparked an entirely new interest in the story of Gypsy Rose Blanchard and her mother Dee Dee. Another curious example — can it be MBP if the proxy might not even exist? Some experts lean towards approaching these individuals gently, suggesting they seek psychological help or refer them to a psychiatrist. It was only after the April 22 death of 15-month-old Claire Peck that a hospital consultant, Dr. Nelson Porter, became alarmed and decided to launch an investigation. Lacey was arrested and charged with manslaughter and second-degree murder. Marybeth stated that she’d found him dead in his crib. Nicholas is currently serving a life sentence for first-degree murder. She served three years of a five-year sentence. Nathan, Chris’s son from a previous relationship, had a history of aggression, violence, and making threats against his family. Things only became worse when he returned home. Then her nine-year-old daughter, Theresa, was dying of leukemia. Jennifer now says that she doesn’t believe that her mother abused her. It’s estimated that 1,000 of those cases involve MSBP. Donations from the public poured in, including money, a new car, and a cruise. The dark reality of the seemingly heartwarming relationship between devoted mom Dee Dee Blanchard and her chronically and seriously ill daughter Gypsy Rose was exposed as a case of Munchausen Syndrome by proxy (MBP), or as it's called now, Factitious Disorder Imposed on Another. In April 2015, she received a sentence of 20 years to life, with the judge stating that MSBP had caused Lacey to crave the attention that being the mother of a sick child gave her. But, as you probably know, it's based on a true story. Maddy's immune disorder prevents her from interacting with the world, but when she meets the boy next door, she wants to break free. Although officials were unable to determine his cause of death, it was suspected that epilepsy was the cause. Dee Dee had claimed her daughter, Gypsy Rose, who had vanished from their home, suffered from leukemia, asthma, muscular dystrophy and other chronic conditions. Jennifer’s family maintains that her health had already started to improve before she was taken from their care. According to reports, Godejohn was let into the house by Gypsy Rose and they waited for Dee Dee to return from a hospital appointment. We have flourished despite the devastating separation. He ordered more specific tests to be conducted. Leslie was convicted of cruelty to children and theft by deception. It was revealed that Gypsy had been forced by her mother Dee Dee to pass herself off as younger, in order pretend she was mentally disabled and chronically ill. She was also subjected to potentially life-threatening operations - all of which were completely unnecessary. In February 2011, Blanca Montano rushed her two children to the hospital as both were exhibiting flu-like symptoms. One of the dead people Cole sees is a young girl (played by Mischa Barton), who directs him to a videotape. Investigators became suspicious, thinking it was not possible that two babies could have died in the same manner. So you'll have to do some research if you want to know more. One nurse even reported seeing Kathy Bush inject her daughter in the mouth with a syringe. As a result, the poor boy suffered from PTSD, which actually caused him to have those violent outbursts. As we’ve already seen, there is often a rush to judgment when a mother has a sick baby or the child dies in her care. It is unclear why those with Munchausen syndrome behave the way they do. None of it seemed to work. He was released two days later. Dee Dee Blanchard, Gypsy Rose's mother, reportedly had Munchhausen syndrome by proxy which caused her to fabricate Gypsy's physical wellbeing. Some described him as being on a witch hunt, seeing MSBP in every case that he reviewed. He testified that the odds of two babies in the same home dying of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) were 1 in 73 million. READ MORE: Gypsy Rose Blanchard reveals how she feels about Joey King's portrayal of her in Hulu's The Act, According to the NHS, Munchausen syndrome is "a psychological disorder where someone pretends to be ill or deliberately produces symptoms of illness in themselves.". She would develop one, have it treated, get better, and then develop another one. Dee Dee had suspected Munchausen syndrome by proxy, which meant not only was she lying about her own health, she was afflicting physical and psychological abuse on her daughter. Her trial only lasted two days. By the time Jennifer Bush was eight years old, she had been hospitalized over 200 times and had undergone more than 40 medical procedures. However, the most disgusting act was committed against Nathan. According to the doctors, Austin’s acid reflux was so severe that he would feel the same pain as someone suffering a heart attack. Montano was found guilty and sentenced to 13 years in prison. As her son was lying in his hospital bed in tremendous pain and slowly dying, Spears spent much of her time on Facebook and her blog, posting a play-by-play, relishing the attention she was receiving. She was also forbidden from having contact with her daughter.