The one we see could be a family photo like that of any couple with their baby. However, it is not. It costs a lot to distinguish it, but The baby is not real, it's a reborn doll. Today we bring you the curious story of a British couple who, given the impossibility of having children, found a solution to their wishes to be parents in the tender and at the same time disturbing world of reborn babies.
Seeing the possibility of conceiving their own children ruled out, Crystal and Terry Duke commissioned a reborn doll created with their features, for which they paid more than 350 euros, and to whom they treat and care as if it were their own baby born from a natural birth. They live the experience as a real fatherhood, doing the same thing that parents do with their babies: they bathe him, feed him, take him out for a walk, read him stories, and even wake up at night to give him the bottle. They are even thinking of giving her a little sister.
She is affected by a rare condition that prevents her ovaries from producing eggs, so they lost all hope of conceiving naturally. They had everything planned to be parents, so when they received the news of Crystal's diagnosis they felt devastated. Nor did they have economic possibilities for adoption, so their dream of being parents looked uncertain.
She even went into depression until her doctor told her about these dolls. It seemed a rather strange idea, but they began to find out and saw that they were acquired by many women who could not have children. It occurred to them to order a reborn baby that was designed in the image and likeness from a photo of the two "parents". They say he has her eyes and his nose. Exactly how they imagined it would be their baby.
"I found an artist who was able to use the photos of the parents to create a doll that looked like them. When I read that I realized that my dream of having a baby could come true," says Crystal.As there was no ultrasound to publicize the news to family and friends, they shared a picture of the doll on the networks while it was in the manufacturing process to announce that it was coming. They thought a name for him (they called him George), and they prepared a party to receive it at home. From that moment "I became a mother", she confesses.
Not only do they give you the care a newborn baby receives, but they also consent and pamper you. So much so that at Christmas more than 250 euros were spent on gifts for him and they drove him to visit Santa Claus.
Nor are they saved from night waking. They set an alarm to prepare the bottles and give them at night, to make the experience even more realistic.
What are "reborn babies"?
They are hyperrealistic dolls made of silicone that reproduce, almost perfectly, a newborn baby. Eyelashes, hair, veins, spots, nails, wrinkles on the skin and even the weight is similar to that of a newborn baby. You can even add custom features, as well as breathing mechanisms or heartbeat. They look like real babies. They do not lack detail and each one has its own characteristic features.
George, Crystal and Terry Duke's reborn baby They are not simple toys. They can fulfill this function but they are also considered sculptures, collectibles or they can have therapeutic purposes for people who have lost their babies, nursing homes, therapies for children with autism or as the British couple, people who cannot have children.
To give the matter more realism, reborn babies are not bought, but rather "adopted" and delivered with birth certificates. Prices vary between 200 and 6,000 euros, depending on the artist who makes them, the materials used and the final quality of the product.
