About this episode

The episode explores the implications of a genetic disorder in the case of Gypsy Rose Blanchard, featuring insights from a genetic counselor.

According to the anti-Gypsy camp, they've found it. The smoking gun. Gypsy Rose Blanchard has a rare genetic disorder, a microdeletion on chromosome 1, and depending on who you ask online, that one word explains the feeding tube, the leukemia, the paralysis. All of it. Which means, according to them, Dee Dee Blanchard wasn't abusing her daughter at all. She was just a mom trying to help a sick kid. So I brought in a genetic counselor and made her explain this thing to me like I'm five, because I am not a geneticist and neither is anyone else arguing about this on TikTok. Kira Dineen, a genetic counselor, walks through what a microdeletion on chromosome 1q21.1 actually is and what it can and can't explain. Featuring Kira Dineen, genetic counselor and host of DNA TodayAndrea Dunlop, host of Nobody Should Believe MeGypsy Rose BlanchardBree, Fancy Macelli, Audacious Audrey, and Amber & Alaura of Into the Weeds Credits Written and hosted by Javier LeivaEdited by Puneeth Shenoy with The Podcast PunditsTheme music by Joe Basile, thechicken.net Listen and support New episodes drop weekly. Early and ad-free episodes are available now on Patreon and Pretend Plus on Apple Podcasts. Apple…

People in this episode

Host: Javier Leiva

Guest: Kira Dineen

Topics covered

• genetic disorders
• Gypsy Rose Blanchard
• abuse
• microdeletion
• genetic counseling
• true crime

Keywords

• Gypsy Rose Blanchard
• genetic disorder
• microdeletion
• abuse
• genetic counseling
• true crime

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Creative Babble, LLC, DNA Today, Nobody Should Believe Me, Into the Weeds, thechicken.net

More episodes of PRETEND

• Bonus: Was Gypsy Rose Actually Medically Abused? · September 7, 2026 · 44 min
• The Gypsy Rose Obsession, Part 4 · September 1, 2026 · 40 min
• The Stalker: Shelbey Fernandez Speaks, Part 23 · August 28, 2026 · 25 min
• The Gypsy Rose Obsession, Part 3 · August 25, 2026 · 37 min
• The Gypsy Rose Obsession, Part 2 · August 18, 2026 · 42 min
• The Gypsy Rose Obsession, Part 1 · August 11, 2026 · 36 min

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the PRETEND podcast page.