_parenting   babies

Are Reborn Babies Scary and Harmful? Continued

by Mary Ann Romans | More from this Blogger

14 Aug 2008 11:35 AM

Real Baby Have you seen the Reborn Baby dolls? They are in the center of a controversy. Some say these dolls are cute and cuddly, while others see them as creepy and macabre. I tend to lean toward the second group. (If you missed the first part of this article, please click here to catch up: Are Reborn Babies Scary and Harmful?

ABC News has reported several stories about these dolls and included expert testimony. In one story, it is stated that carrying one of these babies around is not mentally healthy and could actually lead to serious problems, such as baby stealing or harming a real baby. One psychologist urged owners to seek help for unresolved issues, such as loneliness rather than emerging into a harmful fantasy world. For some people, the report implied, owning one of these Reborn Baby dolls could lead them into taking your real baby!

At the very least, it seems that many owners have a hard time distinguishing the dolls from real babies. They rock them, cuddle them, change them and take them along shopping in carriers and strollers. Many owners enjoy the positive attention they get from appearing in public with a well-behaved infant. On one creator's website, as the dolls are described: "The nostrels are also opened so the baby can breath..." Um, reality check anyone?

In one recent case, police broke the window of a car to save one of these dolls that was strapped into a car seat. Passerby were sure that the doll was a baby dying in the heat of the car.

Many people who are in support of these Reborn Baby dolls say that having them is a form of therapy for women who suffer from miscarriage or infertility. I just can't imagine this. To me, there is nothing in a doll, even this type, that could ever resemble a real infant. Having suffered a second trimester miscarriage myself, I cannot even look at one of these dolls without thinking "dead baby." My heart goes out to anyone who wishes to have a baby but cannot. I don't think Reborn Babies can or should be the means of easing that pain.

What is your opinion? Please share.

Image from sxc.hu

Click here for more articles by Mary Ann Romans.

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Learn more about Mary Ann Romans
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Mary Ann Romans is a freelance writer, wife and mother of three children. She lives in Pennsylvania with her husband, the kids and a 16-pound cat.

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User Comments

Kara Online! (21340) 14 Aug 2008 08:32 PM

I agree. It's not a healthy way to heal...its not healing at all. There is no way a doll could ever replace the baby I lost. I also see them and think dead baby. It brings back images of my baby dying. Its not something I would want around my house. It would be weird and wrong. You're not supposed to try to replace the ones you lose...You should love them wherever they are and not pretend it didn't happen. If it is just a doll that you own because you like dolls I guess that's okay but not to replace a baby you lost or in memory of a baby you lost if you treat it like a real baby.

Mary Ann Romans Online! (26881) 15 Aug 2008 03:55 AM

Kara, I am so sorry for your loss. It is a club no one wants to be in, but I am here to chat anytime.

I can see having these dolls as collectors items on a shelf, but when it comes to cuddling, bathing and caressing them to make up for a lost child, it gets a little unhealthy.

Tashi (1013) 15 Aug 2008 05:12 PM

I'm so sorry for anyone's loss of one's baby. But these "dolls" are no substitute. Being I've never been a mom, I can only relate in that I lost my dog. I know it's not like having children, but please forgive me. :-) Although I miss him terribly, I could never carry around a replica and pretend. It was one of the hardest and most heartbreaking times of my life, but thank goodness, I healed in a healthy way.

DivasMomma (20907) 15 Aug 2008 05:19 PM

My grandmother gets a little scary with them. She collects them and has a ton. She actually has cribs, strollers, swings, bassinets, etc. from the collection as well. When she used to babysit for my oldest, we would go over there and the dolls would be in my daughters pack and play surrounded by blankets and stuffed animals haha

mcmama (51978) 16 Aug 2008 04:16 PM

I collect dolls, but not these. They are just beautiful! But they are dolls.

Mary Ann Romans Online! (26881) 16 Aug 2008 05:06 PM

DivasMomma, does she just display them or play with them?

DivasMomma (20907) 16 Aug 2008 05:33 PM

Not to sure. She seems to treat them like real babies. Like I said, they wind up in the real cribs, with stuffed animals all around them. I remember when I was little she brought over a bigger less expensive version of one. It was all wrapped in blankets and I thought it was real the way she was making a huge fuss over the thing. Im not sure if it was an act for me or not.

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