PRETEND

How does a doctor actually decide that a parent is making their child sick? Dr. John Melville is a child abuse pediatrician, president of the Ray E. Helfer Society, and one of the people who helped write the board exam that certifies child abuse pediatricians.

In this bonus episode, he walks me through how medical child abuse is diagnosed. He explains the difference between Munchausen by proxy, factitious disorder imposed on another, and medical child abuse. And he answers the criticism that child abuse pediatricians are self-appointed experts who took a short course and now override the specialists who know the patient best.

He also talks about what happens when he's wrong, in either direction, and about the myth that a child who's been abused is broken forever.

Dr. Melville has cerebral palsy, which affects his speech. He asked me to mention it up front.

Note: I didn't ask Dr. Melville about Gypsy Rose Blanchard, and he hasn't studied her case. He speaks here only about his own work, and for himself, not for any organization.

Written and hosted by Javier LeivaTheme music by Joe Basile, thechicken.net

© 2026 Creative Babble
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Ken Urker, Gypsy Rose Blanchard's partner and the father of their daughter, Aurora, died on October 1, 2026, his 34th birthday. The sheriff is still investigating, and no official cause of death has been released. Gypsy has said publicly that she believes it was an overdose, and that she doesn't know whether it was intentional or accidental.

Throughout The Gypsy Rose Obsession, Gypsy told me that Ken was struggling with relentless online harassment. The night he died, she texted me three words: "They killed him." In this bonus episode, I talk about what we know so far, who Ken was to Gypsy, what the research says about online harassment, and why I'm worried about Aurora and Gypsy.

Whatever you think about Gypsy, a little girl lost her dad this week. Before you post about a real person, remember that a real person is reading it.

If you or someone you know is struggling, call or text 988 to reach the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.

Learn more:
https://thisispretend.com/blog/gypsy-rose-ken-urker-death/

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Gypsy Rose Blanchard thought no one was listening.

For years, everything she said from inside Chillicothe was being recorded. Now it's public. More than five hundred hours of it.

Some of those recordings broke through on social media, because on them Gypsy and her now ex-husband Ryan can be heard using racial slurs. She eventually apologized publicly for it.

But that's not the part that got me. It's what she says about her mother, when there's no camera on and no reason to give a polished answer.

Fair warning. This one is rough.

Content warning: racist language and racial slurs, child abuse, sexual content involving a child, murder, and self-harm.

Written and Produced by Javier Leiva

Edited by Puneeth Shenoy | Podcast Pundits https://www.podcastpundits.com/

Music by Joe Basile | thechicken.net

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PRETEND+ on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/channel/pretend/id6443456985

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"I didn't f---ing get my own f---ing mother murdered just so I could live for everybody else."

That is Gypsy Rose Blanchard on a recorded prison line, saying the quiet part out loud. She had taken the plea and could never be tried again, so she let her guard down. Then a content creator asked Missouri for the whole archive, and four days later the state sent it to her.

So what does Gypsy actually sound like when she thinks nobody is listening?

In this episode you will hear:

Gypsy doing the math on her own fame. She is going to be rich when she gets out. It seems like everybody in her orbit is trying to figure out how to cash in on the story.

Gypsy has a new mom. She tells her stepmother Kristy that Mother's Day is a good holiday and a sad holiday at the same time. You can hear the two of them becoming family in real time.

Gypsy threatens Fancy Macelli. Gypsy talks about what she plans to do to Fancy when she gets out of prison.

Gypsy at her loneliest. Man after man writes to her after watching her on TV.

Gypsy talks about going to a cancer dental clinic. In a call about a broken denture, she mentions the oncology dental clinic that made it and lets slip that they will not take her now that she is not a cancer patient. The internet calls that the smoking gun.

Attorney calls leaked. Some of these recordings are conversations with her attorney, Mike Stanfield.

I have listened to a lot of these calls and I am sure I missed some. Now, the State of Missouri released the Nick Godejohn's calls too, so there are even more coming. If there is a call you think belongs in this series, tag me on social media and I will get to it.

Stick around to the end of the episode, because I want you to meet the other Javier Leiva. He owns javierleiva.com, which is the address most people assume belongs to me. Listener tips and story leads land in his inbox by mistake, including some of the biggest breaks I have ever gotten, and he forwards every one of them my way. We have been talking for years and it turned into a real friendship.

His site is javierleiva.com. Mine is thisispretend.com.

Our Patreon community has grown into something I am really proud of. Supporters get bonus episodes, early access to new content, and now a private Discord server where we talk in real time about case theories and episodes, plus live video calls with me. Tiers start at $3 a month, and you can find the link at thisispretend.com.

Today's episode was written and produced by Javier Leiva.

Edited by Puneeth Shenoy with the Podcast Pundits.

Theme music by Joe Basile with thechicken.net.

Credits read by Beau Hale, PRETEND Patreon supporter.

More at https://thisispretend.com

2026 © Creative Babble LLC. All rights reserved.

Think I missed a call?Guest shout outJoin us on PatreonCredits
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There are people online right now who don't believe Dee Dee Blanchard had Munchausen by proxy. Some of them don't believe Munchausen by proxy is a real thing at all. So if the abuse wasn't real, how do you explain the feeding tube, the shaved head, the free trips to Disney?

We also discuss the violence in the house leading up to the murder. If Gypsy is the monster, what does that make Dee Dee? For Gypsy critics, the pendulum swings the other way. Justice for Dee Dee, the movement that says the real victim here is the woman who died.

Was Dee Dee a sick woman, or was she a con artist with a kid?

In this episode:

Alaura Flowers and Amber Dietz of Into the Weeds

Content creator Audacious Audrey

Fancy Macelli of the Good Wives Network

Nancy Simpson, host of The Toll podcast

Gypsy Rose Blanchard

Want more?

Ad-free episodes, early releases, and the latest on the stalker case are on Patreon and PRETEND+ on Apple Podcasts. More at thisispretend.com.

Written and hosted by Javier LeivaEdited by Puneeth Shenoy with The Podcast PunditsTheme music by Joe Basile, thechicken.net

© Creative Babble 2026

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