Reborn Dolls: Collectors Care For Lifelike Plastic Dolls As Real Babies (PHOTOS)

You're not supposed to say anyone's baby is ugly. So what happens when that baby is fake? Then, are you allowed to call it creepy? Moms of Reborns collect and care for dolls that are so lifelike, their owners told MSNBC that they feel comforted holding them. (Non-owners mostly agree they are the stuff of nightmares.)

Becky, a 42-year-old mom of two (real kids), appeared on the "Today" show this morning to talk about her hobby. MSNBC showed footage of Becky carrying Annie, one of her 10 Reborn dolls, in an infant car seat. She said that she only identifies Annie as a doll when people ask. Caring for a Reborn isn't a spoof, Becky insists. "I don't think I'm odd, this is a hobby," she says.

Becky isn't alone. Several hundred hobbyists showed up to a doll convention in Texas in mid February where Reborns -- which can cost anywhere from $50 to $4,000 -- were the hot ticket item, MSNBC reports. "They're not for sale, they're for adoption," one attendee noted. Like Becky, many collectors do have kids of their own. In their 38 Facts About Reborn Dolls round up, Buzzfeed claims that almost all Reborn customers are women.

On "Today," Becky said she started her collection after she couldn't have any more children. She received her first as a Christmas gift and was hooked after that.

Fellow collector, Karen, who has built a nursery for her 28 dolls, says caring for them fills a deep need. "You know that they're not real, but they look real and after your real children grow up you know that you can have something to hold and cuddle and love when you want to," she says. Both women agree that holding a baby, even if they're not real, is therapeutic.

Though Reborns were created in the U.S., collecting them is an international phenomenon. In 2008, the BBC aired a documentary titled "My Fake Baby" that delved into how many women are obsessed with the dolls in the U.K. According to MSNBC, "At least one nursing home in the United Kingdom makes dolls available to female residents, who become calmer and less disruptive when 'caring' for their infants."

LOOK: 10 Reborn Dolls

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Comments

[jennnn10]

10:58 AM on 04/15/2012

i guess whatever gets you through the night. but they're clearly missing something and might want to get to the origin of this necessity. carrying on with the car seat and taking it around in public getting attention and freaking people out is just short of lunacy. sorry! get a puppy. oh, wait! that wont work because puppies become dogs...

[SithRose]

01:58 AM on 04/13/2012

We have officially entered the Uncanny Valley territory...

[hanspij]

07:34 PM on 04/11/2012

Yeah. Stamps are great to.

[justpostingacomment]

07:38 PM on 04/10/2012

omg...a pedophile's dream come true...although not a bad idea if these dolls could serve to keep real kids and babies safe from harm.

[Nellie Summers]

02:26 PM on 04/10/2012

I don't think it's that big of a deal. Some women had nothing in their life but to be a mom, and then when they are 45 and realize they don't have anything but a fat husband. Maybe it's not the correct way to fill their emptiness, but I don't really think it's anything to go on about.

[usmelllikepee]

02:41 PM on 04/05/2012

Do these "moms" breastfeed their dolls?

[Cunningham]

11:55 PM on 04/04/2012

Wow, what's creepy is that the doll in pic #7 is my niece's doppelganger.

[GoldenGateCA]

07:03 PM on 04/04/2012

Creepy. My wife tells me that this is what small dogs are for. She has a 9 lbs Lahsa/poodle mix she takes many places with her. Hardly anyone ever complains. My teenage son is starting to see the benefits because teenage girls often approach and ask about the dog. Much better than a creepy looking piece of plastic.

[DandaPanda]

02:10 PM on 04/04/2012

not cool

[Mehitabelle]

01:06 PM on 04/04/2012

"...after your real children grow up you know that you can have something to hold and cuddle and love when you want to..."

I thought that was what grandchildren were for....

I'm sorry, but grown women playing with dolls (and stuffed animals, too) strikes me as freakish and disturbing. We are supposed to love people and use things, not the other way around. It may seem a harmless hobby, but it sounds to me like these women could better utilize their need to nurture in a way that is beneficial to society. How about volunteering at a hospital or doing something that helps other people? How about teaching parenting skills to young mothers?

[Hansy Peguero]

12:19 PM on 04/04/2012

If that makes them happy so what?? At least they are not hurting anybody.

[msoverall]

11:50 AM on 04/04/2012

If you want to do something with babies, go volunteer somewhere. This is creepy.

[Lindsgrace33]

11:50 AM on 04/04/2012

This is by far the creepiest f****** thing I have ever seen.

[animalsrnicerthanhumans]

12:30 PM on 08/26/2012

You must have had a very sheltered life then....so far.

[redsetgo38]

08:47 AM on 04/04/2012

These women should be committed or find something valid to do with their lives..go volunteer at a neonatal hospital or baby sit or become a helper in a school and stop this foolishness at vicarious living.

[Hansy Peguero]

12:19 PM on 04/04/2012

Why would you want women who are clearly very attached to infants near infants that are not theirs?? It would be a recipe for disaster.

[sailorwolfius]

05:42 PM on 04/06/2012

It's funny that you think collectors don't do things like that. Plenty of collectors own the dolls and volunteer at many places (shelters, hospitals, soup kitchens, etc). Owning something doesn't stop you from doing something else. Would you go off on a man who had model trains? He could be spending his time at a real railroad manning real trains, after all. Or, you could stop being so judgemental about other people's hobbies. I have yet to see a valid reason why this hobby out of every other is just so wrong.

[animalsrnicerthanhumans]

12:31 PM on 08/26/2012

Good comment sailor....well said.

[janmB]

07:47 AM on 04/04/2012

The world including the USA is overpopulated now for the number of good jobs available so let them play with dolls, its better for the environment too.