# BBCA's "My Fake Baby"?!



## Croc-O-Dile

Have any of you seen this? My mom and I were watching BBCA and a show called "My Fake Baby" came on. It was like watching a train wreck; I wanted to look away, but I just couldn't!

If you haven't seen it, it's a show about women who buy these "reborn" baby dolls that look like real babies. They push them in prams, buy car-seats and moses baskets for them, and treat them like their real children! Some of them actually _have_ real children. Maybe I just don't get it, but I'm quite freaked out. And honestly, I kept an open mind to the idea until one of them had their fake baby molded after their real baby who died! :nope:

If these women have enough money to spend buying one of these dolls (I looked at the prices online, they're outrageous!) and can buy clothes and prams and what not for this doll, why not just adopt a _real_ human baby? Hell, it's probably cheaper!

I don't mean to offend anyone who may know someone that has a fake baby, but personally I find it a bit odd.


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## futuremommy91

maybe it's best to stick with dolls- I don't mean to offend anyone as I haven't seen the show and their situations. but it sounds like the women are mentally ill. Again- really not trying to offend anyone!


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## amandakelley

...I don't even know what to say to this. lol....Sorry.


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## Croc-O-Dile

futuremommy91 said:


> maybe it's best to stick with dolls- I don't mean to offend anyone as I haven't seen the show and their situations. but it sounds like the women are mentally ill. Again- really not trying to offend anyone!

You're probably right! :haha:

I don't believe it's too popular over in the UK though, because apparently BBC was throwing a hissy about it airing on BBCA because they didn't want Americans to think that all Brits were crazy. Which makes perfect sense, because America does like to pick on everyone. :dohh:


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## futuremommy91

*nods*

We're an angry bunch.

On the plus side (and completely ot haha) I finally...

figured out how to upload a picture onto this site!

Don't laugh everyone :) I tried uploading pictures from my camera onto my computer, but it doesn't work :( . Or I'm just a moron :rofl: So I learned how to take a picture using the camera on my computer!

I'm so proud of myself :smug:


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## halas

sounds a bit creepy to me lol they must have mental problems or somthing


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## Croc-O-Dile

haha woohoo! :happydance:
Does your computer have a SD slot? Your camera should have a sandisk (memory card) and if you have a newer computer you should have a slot that it will push into. If you're on a laptop, it might be on the side where the USB drives are, but if you're using a normal home computer it would most likely be on the front of the tower, either under the CD drive or by the USB drives. :thumbup:


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## Croc-O-Dile

halas said:


> sounds a bit creepy to me lol they must have mental problems or somthing

I think so. The one older woman had a doll made of her LIVING grandson, because he moved to NZ or something and she never gets to see him. Then she was chatting on webcam with him and showed him the "Harry Baby" (that's his name, Harry) and the grandson goes, "That's just a doll grandma," and she said, "No, it's a baby," and he laughed, "That's a doll you numbnut!" :rofl: :rofl:


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## KiansMummy

That's just creepy


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## futuremommy91

Croc-O-Dile said:


> halas said:
> 
> 
> sounds a bit creepy to me lol they must have mental problems or somthing
> 
> I think so. The one older woman had a doll made of her LIVING grandson, because he moved to NZ or something and she never gets to see him. Then she was chatting on webcam with him and showed him the "Harry Baby" (that's his name, Harry) and the grandson goes, "That's just a doll grandma," and she said, "No, it's a baby," and he laughed, "That's a doll you numbnut!" :rofl: :rofl:Click to expand...

:wacko:
Disturbing


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## futuremommy91

Croc-O-Dile said:


> haha woohoo! :happydance:
> Does your computer have a SD slot? Your camera should have a sandisk (memory card) and if you have a newer computer you should have a slot that it will push into. If you're on a laptop, it might be on the side where the USB drives are, but if you're using a normal home computer it would most likely be on the front of the tower, either under the CD drive or by the USB drives. :thumbup:

That comment made me want to cry :( I'm hopeless!

I know they make "Computers for Dummies", but they need to make "Computers for Dummies with Head Injuries"

*bangs head against keyboard*


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## Mellie1988

Yeah I seen that programme ages ago, really odd & disturbing!! 

x


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## Rachiie18

My mum got one of these about a year ago to look like my little sister who passed away, and another one; well im not sure why she got another one....but i HATED her for it, as did my dad...its just weird, it was like 'mum claires not here anymore stop it' it was like hurting everyone, now i dont think my mums all there tbh, but my god it was the freakiest time ever! there still in her wardroab!! 
All i can hope is when she comes back from hospital they go in the bin!
but eurgh *shudders* hated it! and she got so angry when i said i didnt like it like she was protective over it....but anyways lol long ramble...i agree its weird, scary, mental not all there and something they need help for! - and im not cold hearted i just had to live with someone who was like it!


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## veganmum2be

dont know if its been mntioned yet already cos i didn't properly read all posts as im in a rush.
but oh my, yes i have seen a programme like this.
and i these women have problems, there was one that ''breastfed'' her doll in public, another that spent thousands on a nursary, pram etc.
and some women got the reborns made to look exactly like other peoples babies, so they could look after them also?!
very creepy.
and yeah there was a woman who had a doll made to look the spitting image of her angel baby, which i feel sorry for her, and dont really like to judge or comment, cos i cant imagine loosing a child like that, but it doesn't seem to be the healthy minded thing to do.
i typed reborn on ebay after the show and these dolls are hundreds of pounds for the ''good'' ones.
i dont understand how a grown women could become so attatched and weird about these dolls.


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## Love Bunny

Or maybe they aren't mentally ill at all. Maybe they just want something to look after, maybe they aren't capleable of having children or maybe they are just lonely or don;t have someone who they can share a baby with.

"If these women have enough money to spend buying one of these dolls (I looked at the prices online, they're outrageous!) and can buy clothes and prams and what not for this doll, why not just adopt a real human baby? Hell, it's probably cheaper!"

It must be nice to be so god damn perfect eh!? Maybe you should actually think about what your saying about these poor women who obviously have alot of love to give.


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## AP

I understand why there are reborn dolls made to replicate a time or a lost child. I even think I would consider it.

I do find the babies ok, its the older dolls that are pretty scary.

Not sure what to think of the whole "lets buy a pram for it" thing though... part of me says its totally crazy, part of me wonders the real reason why they doit, so im not gonna be so quick to judge.


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## Rachiie18

Im sorry i really have to say these reborn babies are not healthy! i am talking from experience, the thought of losing a child is something i cant comprehend but i understand losing a sister and watching my mum dealing with that, last year she had a doll made to look like my little sister and it made her worse, she went into deniel about how it wasnt healthy, she started to not care about us and care more about 'showing off' her doll, she even hit me because i said i didnt like it. 
Maybe if you just collect dolls, but having one made to resemble a child whos passed away is not healthy.
I dont want to start arguements but its not normal healthy behaviour.


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## nicholatmn

Those dolls creepy me out. I hate it when things look too real, iykwim? :shrug:


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## annawrigley

:shock: interesting


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## dontworry

I think any kind of replica doll is creepy - the sex dolls that look like real girls, um... sex toys (ie: dildos and whatnot - I'm so sorry in advance if I'm not allowed to say it lmao), or really realistic baby dolls - but anything of that sort just really creeps me out. It's a personal thing.
I think those dolls are mainly the people's way of coping. I could understand why someone would want one, but I don't think I could ever buy one... Like Ally said, I would personally love to adopt someone if I had so much love to share with someone. I'd rather give it to a real person than a fake one... you know what I mean? 

I wonder if they tell people their babydoll is real or not... and if so, do they buy a doll-child? How do they grow up? Idk... just thinking out loud lol.


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## lottebot

I watched this show when it was aired in the UK, i can kinda understand the woman who had her grandson done, she didn't play/care for it right? it was just like a little reminder but the woman who bought one & payed for it to have a plane seat, that was kinda OTT :wacko:


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## rubixcyoob.

I watched this a while ago and was kind of creeped out by the dolls when they were in prams and such just because the way the women were doting over them like real children. There were even husbands/children that were upset at not ingored because these dolls.

But heyho, its the same as that programme I watched about women treating little monkeys as children and dressing them up - which is still creepy and extremely worse.

To each their own.


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## missmommy

I wanted to pop in on this post haha, I haven't read it all but I felt the need to pop in anyway 

I make these reborn dolls and let me tell you it is *very rare *to stumble upon someone who is like this. Most of the people who are a part of the reborning community are just collectors, like those who collect poreclain dolls, or miniature dolls, or just artists who enjoy MAKING them. There are very few who actually care for their dolls like those ladies do and spend thousands on their dolls and treat them real. The producers of these films try to find the few loonies who are like this and then the rest of us reborners are made out to be loonies, but in all honesty most of us just enjoy the art form. I've been making them for about 2 years now and I've loved every minute of it but that's all I do, I make them and sell them I do not play with them or treat them real and I'm not a collector. 

Just wanted to add a reborners perspective to this post :D


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## rainbows_x

I haven't actually seen this show so I can't really comment on it, BUT I did watch a show the other day called "My Monkey Baby" Where single people and couples would adopt baby monkeys and raise them as they would a child. Dressing them up and so on. Some peoples cases I understood why they had adopted the monkeys, but others seem to do it for odd reasons really. 
Like I said I wouldn't feel right judging as I haven't been in the same position as the women that get these dolls. :shrug:


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## aob1013

One of my family members makes these, and another collects them after loosing her baby. I don't see it weird or creepy at all. TV shows like this will ALWAYS choose the most odd things people can do to get a reaction/story.


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## missmommy

thedailymail said:


> One of my family members makes these, and another collects them after loosing her baby. I don't see it weird or creepy at all. TV shows like this will ALWAYS choose the most odd things people can do to get a reaction/story.

That is exactly it lol. They hunt down the weirdos because to be honest that's what gets ratings. People find it more interesting to watch a show about a woman who spends thousands on treating her doll real rather than a woman who paints and creates a doll as an art form.


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## aob1013

missmommy said:


> thedailymail said:
> 
> 
> One of my family members makes these, and another collects them after loosing her baby. I don't see it weird or creepy at all. TV shows like this will ALWAYS choose the most odd things people can do to get a reaction/story.
> 
> That is exactly it lol. They hunt down the weirdos because to be honest that's what gets ratings. People find it more interesting to watch a show about a woman who spends thousands on treating her doll real rather than a woman who paints and creates a doll as an art form.Click to expand...

Of course! It would be crap TV otherwise! 

Bit harsh calling people 'mentally ill' though :growlmad: .. my cousin is not 'mentally il' for having a reborn because she lost a baby .. thats the way she's dealing with it and she isn't hurting anyone.


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## missmommy

thedailymail said:


> missmommy said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> thedailymail said:
> 
> 
> One of my family members makes these, and another collects them after loosing her baby. I don't see it weird or creepy at all. TV shows like this will ALWAYS choose the most odd things people can do to get a reaction/story.
> 
> That is exactly it lol. They hunt down the weirdos because to be honest that's what gets ratings. People find it more interesting to watch a show about a woman who spends thousands on treating her doll real rather than a woman who paints and creates a doll as an art form.Click to expand...
> 
> Of course! It would be crap TV otherwise!
> 
> Bit harsh calling people 'mentally ill' though :growlmad: .. my cousin is not 'mentally il' for having a reborn because she lost a baby .. thats the way she's dealing with it and she isn't hurting anyone.Click to expand...

Aww I'm so sorry to your cousin. A lot of the people who I've sold dolls to are just collectors, too. They buy the dolls and they go in a glass case and are just looked at. Not played with, not treated like a baby, just displayed like a collector doll should be. A lot of them just see them as collector dolls kinda like porcelain dolls :shrug:


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## dizzy65

hmm thats a bit weird.. id never be able to do something like that. they sound really expensive. when i was in highschool they had one of those fake dolls in our health class to show teens how hard it was to have a baby.. but only this one you could shut off.. and you got graded on it and stuff..


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## amygwen

Wow that is weird.

I can't wait to check guide when I get home to see if it's on BBCA anytime soon! haha I really want to see it..


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## Daria87

I'm watching it online now and that's just...creepy.:nope:


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## nightkd

My mum makes reborn dolls....I think she'd be a bit freaked out to know someone could be buying them to pretend it's a real baby - but hey, maybe it's part of a grieving process if the women have just lost a baby?

x


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## amygwen

I just watched it online as well. It was actually quite sad :| I only got to see two ladies, one who didn't have children & one who lost her child. Obviously the second one was in a grieving process and I felt really bad for her, but if it makes her feel better I can understand why she would be the way she is :) I remember when I was a little girl I would've loved one of these dolls, and although there's a big age gap between being five and being fifty, I'm sure it satisfies something for them & whatever makes them happy is all that matters :D


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## Daria87

I can understand the grieving process but the one lady on the show had them as a hobby and saying how she liked them more than real children because you pretty much didn't have to take care of them


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## trashit

Only in America :rofl:
Although there was a woman near where i used to live that carried a doll (that wasn't one of these screaming real life style ones) everywhere she went, she called it Betty and got on all the buses with it and everything but difference was, she WAS a mental patient. 
I think these women probably are too, or need to be anyway. Bless their hearts, well each to their own i guess. x


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## missmommy

trashit said:


> Only in America :rofl:
> Although there was a woman near where i used to live that carried a doll (that wasn't one of these screaming real life style ones) everywhere she went, she called it Betty and got on all the buses with it and everything but difference was, she WAS a mental patient.
> I think these women probably are too, or need to be anyway. Bless their hearts, well each to their own i guess. x

There's a bunch of reborners in the UK too :winkwink: And I'm pretty sure the women in the documentary are from the UK lol


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## trashit

reborners? :shrug:


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## missmommy

trashit said:


> reborners? :shrug:

Lol I'm thinking you didn't see my post. I'm an artist who makes these dolls. :baby: The term is "reborners". :happydance:


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## stuffymuffy

I saw the original episode on the discovery channel a little while ago. It was quite strange :wacko: My nan collects dolls and has a few of those real-life looking ones, and they really do look like real babies! But she keeps them on a shelf, she doesn't walk around with them and pretend like they're real. But to each his own I guess.


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## Croc-O-Dile

missmommy said:


> I wanted to pop in on this post haha, I haven't read it all but I felt the need to pop in anyway
> 
> I make these reborn dolls and let me tell you it is *very rare *to stumble upon someone who is like this. Most of the people who are a part of the reborning community are just collectors, like those who collect poreclain dolls, or miniature dolls, or just artists who enjoy MAKING them. There are very few who actually care for their dolls like those ladies do and spend thousands on their dolls and treat them real. The producers of these films try to find the few loonies who are like this and then the rest of us reborners are made out to be loonies, but in all honesty most of us just enjoy the art form. I've been making them for about 2 years now and I've loved every minute of it but that's all I do, I make them and sell them I do not play with them or treat them real and I'm not a collector.
> 
> Just wanted to add a reborners perspective to this post :D

In no way did I mean to offend the artists that make them, because personally, from one artist to another, the work is amazing. I know I personally would not be able to sit there for hours at a time inserting each and every hair on their head. 

I don't think it's creepy for someone to collect them, or to have them sitting on a shelf or on display. I don't even find it that odd for someone to have one made as a tribute to their loved one who's passed. I just find it odd and unhealthy for the women who buy the expensive prams and such and treat them like real children by taking them out all the time.


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## missmommy

Croc-O-Dile said:


> [
> In no way did I mean to offend the artists that make them, because personally, from one artist to another, the work is amazing. I know I personally would not be able to sit there for hours at a time inserting each and every hair on their head.
> 
> I don't think it's creepy for someone to collect them, or to have them sitting on a shelf or on display. I don't even find it that odd for someone to have one made as a tribute to their loved one who's passed. I just find it odd and unhealthy for the women who buy the expensive prams and such and treat them like real children by taking them out all the time.

Thank you mommy. No offence taken. I just wanted to point out that by no means is everyone who reborns or collects reborns like that lol. Those loonies are very rare...very VERY rare. It is a very time consuming art, the hair alone normally takes between 20 and 40 hours depending on the size of the head, the painting can take 2-3 days. The end result is very worth it though. I don't normally collect but I may make one to resemble my little girl as a newborn once she's here just to keep on display for her as she gets older. :happydance:


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## KrisKitten

:rofl:

sorry...that was my reaction


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## ~RedLily~

the people who actually pretend its a baby they have lost i would have thought that it would prevent grieving because they are in denial, in that way i dont think its very healthy.
i guess if it makes them happy then leave them to it but tbh the whole thing just seems really weird and creepy. sorry if that offends.


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## glitterbomb

I agree I haven't watched the show, but they must be mentally ill. I did watch a show on ID about a women who faked a pregnancy and stole a baby out of the mother :(:( and she did weird things like that leading up to doing what she did!


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## dontworry

glitterbomb said:


> I agree I haven't watched the show, but they must be mentally ill. I did watch a show on ID about a women who faked a pregnancy and stole a baby out of the mother :(:( and she did weird things like that leading up to doing what she did!

That totally reminds me of an episode of Law and Order or something, where this lady was pregnant and her friend had severe PPD and killed her baby. The friend felt bad that she did that to her own child, and murdered the other lady and stole the baby from out of her stomach... ew! Wonder if it was based on truth?! Crazy stuff. :(


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## tasha41

TBH I couldn't have one of those in my house... too realistic

I think it's fine to have it as a collectors item or memorial for a baby you lost etc.. but to carry it around in town like a real baby is... well I honestly cannot fathom how that is healthy by any stretch of the imagination.

There is an actually mentally ill woman who has a "baby" and takes it on the bus etc with her here... she brings it onto the bus on a stroller and rocks it in her arms etc. I feel bad because she gets on the bus with the high school kids sometimes and they make fun of her and tell her the baby isn't real :(


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## babydustcass

I just had to bring up this post, i know it was finished a while ago but i thought id add my two cents.

The BBC went to great lengths to chop and edit the show to make it more ''entertaining'' to watch, little did they care about anyones feelings or how it would make the viewer feel towards the artists and collectors of reborn dolls. The lady who had a baby replicated had a portrait of her granson made so she could remember him as a tiny baby, he moved to australia with his mum at about 4 years old, he did not die. Her reborn brought her great comfort when she was missing him.
I make reborn dolls, I have for two years now and i have become an award winning artist within the reborning world, please dont think im 'sick, ill, or unhinged' I am an very creative normal person and after having my son I tried out lots of different crafts to keep my occupied in my spare time and make some extra money. 
I watched the show and although collecting didnt appeal to me mainly because i could never afford to buy a nice one, i really wanted to make one, and then another and another. Dont get me wrong i dont expect everyone to like them and i agree to some they will be creepy because they are so realistic it can make you look twice before realising if at all, and you wonder why people collect them.
From personal experience, i have come across one person in the whole time i have been reborning who asked me to make a portrait baby of the child they lost. I couldnt agree to it because its too upsetting for me and I cannot be creative. I formed a close online reltionship with this girl and helped her to find a sculptor who sculpted her a mini angel baby who she cherishs each and every day.
But other than that collecting dolls has been a hobby many have taken part in from child hood right through until they are old. Reborns are of more exquisit quality to china dolls and ashton drake dolls. Men can play with their cars from child hood to adulthood, why can't women collect reborn baby dolls. 

I am now earning between £500-£1500 per doll and i can make 2 a month, i get to stay at home with my little boy and i dread to think where i would if i hadn't found my hobby, carer and passion :)

You dont stop playing with dolls because you get old, you get old because you stop playing with dolls.


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## AriannasMama

I don't want to judge anyone if they have those dolls or anything, sure its a little odd, but we're all a little odd. lol. Those dolls just creep me out because of how real they look.


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## AP

Theres a huge difference from collecting dolls, to taking them out in a pram, changing their nappy and using the parent and child spaces in Tesco!!!!

I dont find the Reborn dolls thing weird. I dont mind them (I do mind the older ones though :s), perhaps id even consider one myself, but its truley unhealthy when it goes beyond collecting/hobbies


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## baby.moo

IDK if I'd trust them with a real baby so maybe the dolls are for the best lol


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## amandad192

I think if I lost a baby, I may consider it as a memorial AFTER I had grieved and "got over it" (I know that's a really bad way to explain it but I can't think of any other words)

And I can justify collecting them because they can be very cute.

My sister got one on ebay a few years back (she was about 12.) because she was too old for dolls but didn't want to grow up.

Taking them out in prams, and buying moses baskets and things, hmm I think that's a waste of money. If they were that desperate for a baby and had enough money to buy all those things, surely they could try IVF or some other fertility treatment, or foster or adopt.


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## ~RedLily~

amandad192 said:


> I think if I lost a baby, I may consider it as a memorial AFTER I had grieved and "got over it" (I know that's a really bad way to explain it but I can't think of any other words)
> 
> And I can justify collecting them because they can be very cute.
> 
> My sister got one on ebay a few years back (she was about 12.) because she was too old for dolls but didn't want to grow up.
> 
> Taking them out in prams, and buying moses baskets and things, hmm I think that's a waste of money. *If they were that desperate for a baby and had enough money to buy all those things, surely they could try IVF or some other fertility treatment, or foster or adopt*.

maybe its a sort of 'quick fix' as other options can take years :shrug:


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## mommy2baby2

I've encountered a few women with these dolls. I've even had a woman approach me so I could see her baby and so our babies could say hi to each other (my first daughter was only about a year old). All I did was smile and tell her that she had a very sweet little girl (the doll was a girl). The woman smiled and was so proud.

I've only encountered older women who do this. Most seem post menopausal in age...

I saw another one that had a doll strapped to the front of her walker.

I think it's a coping mechanism, perhaps it's hard to accept that they are now too old to have more children (or even have one) and are trying to recapture their "lost" youth...Or they are devestated over the loss of their own child that something just snaps inside of them. In a way it makes me sad but I'm sure I do odd things too when I'm grieving, coping or upset?

I don't really know. Maybe it's a form of dementia or a deep depression. 

Either way, if she is happy who am I to judge. If she wants to spend her money on a nursury, then by all means. I'd be pissed if someone told me I couldn't spend my money on what made me happy based on their opinions of what was right or wrong!


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## mummy3

:wacko: Did anyone else hear the china doll ghost story as a young kid?

I havent been able to sleep in a room with any life like doll since :rofl:
These really really creep me out, but im all for other people having them, so long as I dont have to visit!!


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## lynne192

i considered having a reborn made after we lost our baby. but never had it done because of the cost, sometimes its a nice reminder but people can become obsessed and take it to far.


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## xMissxZoiex

I have seen that program!, it was on here about 2years ago i think lol but what some of the ladies do for the babies its unreal, one women bought a doll and flew over to the states to collect it and the morning after she collected it she realised it has a crack in it or something!, so the whole thing was a waste of time, i think that was the women who lost her real baby, i think she needs help for the grief she is going through not going and spending thousands on a dol!! it is very bizare.

And some of the women do seem like they really need help.

On a plus side Dolls are less messy and make alot less noise than real babies :haha:
xxx


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## QuintinsMommy

nightkd said:


> My mum makes reborn dolls....I think she'd be a bit freaked out to know someone could be buying them to pretend it's a real baby - but hey, maybe it's part of a grieving process if the women have just lost a baby?
> 
> x


If Quintin died, I think I would want one, just to feel like I was holding him again....don't know if that makes me crazy, but if I lost him I would be crazy... 



mummy3 said:


> :wacko: Did anyone else hear the china doll ghost story as a young kid?

I heard of one when I was little

..also I don't see whats SO wrong with this, lots of people have pets they treat like babies and spend loads on, 
or some peoples "babies" are their cars


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## QuintinsMommy

i am watching this now online tho LOL



*Watched it now * - maybe these ladies are a little crazy lol not saying reborners are crazy, those ladies in the doc. are.


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## celestek89

wow i really dont know what to think of this, except that im quite disturbed about it xox sorry


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## Eskimobabys

*"And honestly, I kept an open mind to the idea until one of them had their fake baby molded after their real baby who died!"*

outta the WHOLE show this what disturb u the most?! lol she seems the most sane! if my baby died i would deff consider this if i had the funds lol i say let the ladies play with there dols no harm done in that. :)


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## Croc-O-Dile

Eskimobabys said:


> *"And honestly, I kept an open mind to the idea until one of them had their fake baby molded after their real baby who died!"*
> 
> outta the WHOLE show this what disturb u the most?! lol she seems the most sane! if my baby died i would deff consider this if i had the funds lol i say let the ladies play with there dols no harm done in that. :)

No, it wasn't that she had one made. Because like others have said, it could be a nice memorial and I have no idea how I'd react if I lost Olivia. I was just disturbed that she had the baby molded and then was treating it like it was really her lost baby. Everybody has different ways of coping, but like another young lady said on here about her personal experience with them, it can become unhealthy very quickly.
I don't have anything wrong with the dolls themselves though, although they do freak me out (life-like dolls scare the crap out of me!)

Although, I have to say, if I had the patience to sit there and thread all that hair I'd probably look into making them for a living. Most painters don't get that much for a single piece! :haha:


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## AnnabelsMummy

i dunno about it all..

in some ways it would be nice if you lost a child to have something to remember them by, but at the same time, it's not real, so treating them like they are, surely can't be healthy? 
you'd never be able to watch the doll grow up, cry for you... where as if you adopted you would?
and to be honest i think these people sound like they have alot of love to give, but nobody to give it too.. they'd be perfect for adopting, but i think there's not actually that many babies out their to adopt :/ 
not many people give their baby away at birth, they either have an "a" or they keep the baby and bring their babies up themselves..
but i think it's strange to treat a doll like a real person.. 
xxxx


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## Croc-O-Dile

allier276 said:


> i dunno about it all..
> 
> in some ways it would be nice if you lost a child to have something to remember them by, but at the same time, it's not real, so treating them like they are, surely can't be healthy?
> you'd never be able to watch the doll grow up, cry for you... where as if you adopted you would?
> and to be honest i think these people sound like they have alot of love to give, but nobody to give it too.. they'd be perfect for adopting, but i think *there's not actually that many babies out their to adopt :/ *
> not many people give their baby away at birth, they either have an "a" or they keep the baby and bring their babies up themselves..
> but i think it's strange to treat a doll like a real person..
> xxxx

They should come to the states! There are sooo many kids in foster care here. A lot of the time it isn't because they were given up at birth, it's because their parents are hookers and drug dealers and they were taken away from them. (Not all of them obviously, cause I know a woman who had her son taken away from her not because she was a bad person, but because she was homeless. She ended up getting him back though after the government helped her get on her feet.)


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## AnnabelsMummy

yeah, i dunno i think over here we have a few who are older..
but these women don't want older children.. they want babies, to be able to bring them up as their own.. 
xxxx

EDIT: but at the same time, i don't think it's healthy for them to have dolls.. :/ and buy all these expensive things and stuff, it's not that it's not normal, because who cares - it's not healthy for them, and in the long run it'll make them greive longer.. because they never end up accepting their loss?
xxxx


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## Croc-O-Dile

babydustcass said:


> I just had to bring up this post, i know it was finished a while ago but i thought id add my two cents.
> 
> The BBC went to great lengths to chop and edit the show to make it more ''entertaining'' to watch, little did they care about anyones feelings or how it would make the viewer feel towards the artists and collectors of reborn dolls. The lady who had a baby replicated had a portrait of her granson made so she could remember him as a tiny baby, he moved to australia with his mum at about 4 years old, he did not die. Her reborn brought her great comfort when she was missing him.
> I make reborn dolls, I have for two years now and i have become an award winning artist within the reborning world, please dont think im 'sick, ill, or unhinged' I am an very creative normal person and after having my son I tried out lots of different crafts to keep my occupied in my spare time and make some extra money.
> I watched the show and although collecting didnt appeal to me mainly because i could never afford to buy a nice one, i really wanted to make one, and then another and another. Dont get me wrong i dont expect everyone to like them and i agree to some they will be creepy because they are so realistic it can make you look twice before realising if at all, and you wonder why people collect them.
> From personal experience, i have come across one person in the whole time i have been reborning who asked me to make a portrait baby of the child they lost. I couldnt agree to it because its too upsetting for me and I cannot be creative. I formed a close online reltionship with this girl and helped her to find a sculptor who sculpted her a mini angel baby who she cherishs each and every day.
> But other than that collecting dolls has been a hobby many have taken part in from child hood right through until they are old. Reborns are of more exquisit quality to china dolls and ashton drake dolls. Men can play with their cars from child hood to adulthood, why can't women collect reborn baby dolls.
> 
> I am now earning between £500-£1500 per doll and i can make 2 a month, i get to stay at home with my little boy and i dread to think where i would if i hadn't found my hobby, carer and passion :)
> 
> You dont stop playing with dolls because you get old, you get old because you stop playing with dolls.

I'm sorry, I just read this.
I didn't mean that collecting them was odd, as I've said in a few other posts. We all collect something, when I was little I had a collection of china dolls my grandmother passed down to me. I just meant that going overboard and shelling out all that money on the doll and then the pram and clothes and treating it and introducing it to folks as a real baby is, in my opinion, a bit unhealthy.

And as I've said before, *I have nothing against the artists who make them, in fact I envy their talent and patience.* So I don't want you to feel as if I was attacking you or your work, and I'm sorry if it came across like that. I know first hand how time consuming any large project (not just reborns) is and how you grow a sort of attachment to the piece because of all the time you put into it. Therefore I wouldn't intentionally insult anybody's work, especially something that takes so long to complete.

I hope that's cleared up some things. :flower:


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## v2007

Im offended about how you say these ladies have mental problems. 

I watched this programme when it 1st aired in the UK and at 1st i was a little bit taken aback. 

But each to their own.

They are not doing any harm to others, yes its a little bit out there but if thats what they want to do then so be it. 

I have friends who have lost a child and have a reborn made to look like their son/daughter and they are not mental.

I have a friend who makes them and they are beautiful. 

Some have a tattoo, some have headstone and some have a reborn. 

Juat because some of you find it a bit odd, dont meant you should call these ladies mental etc. 

V xxxx


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## Croc-O-Dile

v2007 said:


> Im offended about how you say these ladies have mental problems.
> 
> I watched this programme when it 1st aired in the UK and at 1st i was a little bit taken aback.
> 
> But each to their own.
> 
> They are not doing any harm to others, yes its a little bit out there but if thats what they want to do then so be it.
> 
> I have friends who have lost a child and have a reborn made to look like their son/daughter and they are not mental.
> 
> I have a friend who makes them and they are beautiful.
> 
> Some have a tattoo, some have headstone and some have a reborn.
> 
> Juat because some of you find it a bit odd, dont meant you should call these ladies mental etc.
> 
> V xxxx

I'm sorry that you were offended by this. And if you don't mind me asking, do the friends that have reborns after their children treat them like real children? (i.e buying the prams, clothes, taking them out everywhere etc.)
That's what I had a problem with, and I probably should have made that clear in the original post. I have nothing against people who want the have one for whatever reason that may. I personally just find it unhealthy for the healing process to have one made and then carry on with it as if it were your real child.


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## v2007

No Croc darling, they dont treat as a real baby, most have them is a display as they are very delicate. But i do know that some of their family members find them quite sinister but like i say each to their own. 

The Nanna who had baby Harry done really did come across as unhinged but i think this was more to do with the editing at the BBC.

V xxxx


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## aob1013

I was offended aswell. It is a very narrow minded approach tbh. I explained myself a few pages back I think. A documentary is always going to pick the oddest people that do the weirdest things to provoke a reaction and to get ratings. People deal with things differently. My family members are definately not mental that's for sure.


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## Croc-O-Dile

v2007 said:


> No Croc darling, they dont treat as a real baby, most have them is a display as they are very delicate. But i do know that some of their family members find them quite sinister but like i say each to their own.
> 
> The Nanna who had baby Harry done really did come across as unhinged but i think this was more to do with the editing at the BBC.
> 
> V xxxx

It very well could have been the editing that made the women seem a bit off to me, I won't deny that. But as for your friends who have them on display, I honestly see nothing wrong with that. Like you said, some people get tattoos, some get reborns. I know personally I wouldn't be able to have one of my own, but that just because life-like dolls scare me. But I don't think ill of those who do have them for memorial reasons or as tributes to their own children. Like I said, it only sits uneasy with me once it crosses over into the obsessive. 

And Ally, I'm sorry you were also offended by this, but as I've said 100 times now, in no way was I trying to imply that anybody who owned one of these dolls was crazy or mental.

I admit my original post came off very sharp, which probably had to do with whatever mood I was in or how late it was at the time I wrote it. My opinions were not 100% clear.

Honestly, I would much prefer this be dropped, as it was started quite a while ago and has been dead for quite a while. No need to kick a dead horse. :)


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## aob1013

^ Hun hun i know it wasn't at you personally, just some of the comments made me sad :( xx


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## Marzipan_girl

....I don't think people should snigger at this.
It's v.sad...
Poor ladies...especially the ones who lost their babies. They act happy with their dolls and yeah they appear "mental" as some people here have said. But what's funny about that? They seem very very sad and are maybe expressing that through the dolls. :cry:


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## Zebra Stars

i feel sorry for the women who lost there babys or can't have any, but the ones that have children n can have more children WEIRD!!


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## aob1013

:dohh: ^

It's not all black and white.


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## Eskimobabys

Croc-O-Dile said:


> Eskimobabys said:
> 
> 
> *"And honestly, I kept an open mind to the idea until one of them had their fake baby molded after their real baby who died!"*
> 
> outta the WHOLE show this what disturb u the most?! lol she seems the most sane! if my baby died i would deff consider this if i had the funds lol i say let the ladies play with there dols no harm done in that. :)
> 
> No, it wasn't that she had one made. Because like others have said, it could be a nice memorial and I have no idea how I'd react if I lost Olivia. I was just disturbed that she had the baby molded and then was treating it like it was really her lost baby. Everybody has different ways of coping, but like another young lady said on here about her personal experience with them, it can become unhealthy very quickly.
> I don't have anything wrong with the dolls themselves though, although they do freak me out *(life-like dolls scare the crap out of me!*)
> 
> Although, I have to say, if I had the patience to sit there and thread all that hair I'd probably look into making them for a living. Most painters don't get that much for a single piece! :haha:Click to expand...

yeah ANY dolls creep me out bad esp bc i had a bad child hood experience with one!


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## Midnight_Fairy

The dolls creep me out. I don't know how they sell for so much :S


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## Marzipan_girl

Zebra Stars said:


> i feel sorry for the women who lost there babys or can't have any, but the ones that have children n can have more children WEIRD!!

Aw no. Everyone has reasons. They aren't just suddenly WEIRD because they CAN have kids, and perfectly sane if they can't!


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