A pregnant doll to mirror someone who hasn't been confirmed pregnant might be taking the sport of "celeb bump watching" a bit far.
Naturally, we're talking about Kate Middleton. It may not come as much of a surprise that her fans would like to see her dollified again. Rumors of her pregnancy started up before she'd even made her way out of Westminster Abbey with Prince William in April.
Chelsea-based company Arklu is the toymaker behind the doll. They've been inundated with requests to create a pregnant version of their already best-selling Duchess of Cambridge.
Despite the potential volume of requests, the company may want to consider that pregnant dolls haven't gone over well. In 2002, Mattell released a pregnant version of Barbie's friend Midge (at the time, her bio included a marriage to a man named Alan and a firstborn son named Ryan). But Wal-Mart pulled the doll after customers complained that it was too real for their little girls (Midge had a magnetic removable stomach with a baby in fetal position inside. TMI, said parents.)
And then who could forget the breastfeeding doll that originated in Europe and hit shelves in the U.S. over the summer? Several critics argued it sexualizes young girls (the doll makes suckling noises as it "nurses") and exposes them to information they've got no business worrying about, or mimicking for that matter, at a young age. Tessa Blake took a different stance in a Huffington Post blog, pointing out that desexualizing the breast (by reminding people it has a purpose) and normalizing the practice of breastfeeding in our culture isn't a half-bad idea.
It remains to be seen whether this latest doll will make its way out of idea phase and onto store shelves, but the company has other less controversial requests it can fulfill: they've reportedly received several requests for a Pippa doll.
Correction: An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that Arklu is considering creating the doll: they have received requests but have no plans to produce it.